by Gadu Rinpoche–

Growing up:

Checheng was a barren and impoverished village next to the sea in the Hengchun Peninsula at the Southern end of Taiwan. People there made their living from agriculture as well as a little lumbering and fishery. In 1947, shortly after the Second World War, life of people in the village was particularly tough. In this year, when my mother was at the high age of 43 for giving birth, I, Gadu, came to the earthly realm of this Saha World.

During the growing years of my childhood, I did not receive special care for being the youngest of my family’s children. Also, because of the big age differences between me and my elder sister and brothers, I mostly spent my time by myself. One thing that left an especially lasting memory in me was a big blackboard that father bought me. It brought me a lot of joy and happiness. Whenever I felt like it, I always drew on the blackboard the illusionary images in my mind, as well as some figures that I saw and remembered well from my daily life. My parents and relatives of elder generation were always full of praise for me. That was my happiest memory.

In my youth, I grew up normally like an average kid living in the countryside. One peculiarity of mine was that I liked to be alone and often sat where no one else was present to look up to the sky. I contemplated about why the sky and the earth were there, and where I came from. Of course I knew that I was born from my parents. Then what was I before being born from my parents? Such questions were always present in my little mind as a child. In my dreams, I often saw a vast and endless land where very few people dwell and unusual temples that were quite different from what I saw in Taiwan, as well as Bodhisattvas of different appearances worshiped in those temples. What was even more peculiar was that, in my dreams, I often saw myself wearing a gown of dark-red color and a yellow-colored pointed hat and flying in the sky. I also remember that I always had outstanding performance in the works of drawing and craftsmanship. I was always ranked among the very top in the contests of my school. In reality, I did not make any special effort to study these subjects. I just had such talent naturally. At that time, I did not know what this phenomenon was about.

When I was young, I worked hard. I never gave up any opportunity for making money. My mind was full of the thoughts of how to do the job well, how to make money, how to expand my business, and so on. I was completely occupied by worldly matters of mundane beings and totally lost the goal of my coming to the Saha World again in this current life. Thinking back on that, now I feel very embarrassed. What was even scarier was that I did not have the motivation of learning Buddhism at the time.

When I entered mid-age, with the recommendations from several senior leaders in the business circle, I joined the Rotary Club of Taipei New East, a service club associated with the Organization of Rotary International. The stated mission of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders from all over the world to provide humanitarian service based on the principle of universal fraternity, encourage members to achieve high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Since I joined the association in 1989, I was deeply interested and very devoted in the activities. I was appointed to the president of the club for the period of 1994-1995. At that time, I was really a very ashamed and befuddled person. I always regarded that place as a high-standard venue of development for mankind, humanity, and charity. Therefore, I spent all my painstaking efforts there. Now I realized that I was really a deluded person without knowing the truth at the time. The Organization of Rotary International was certainly beneficial to the progress of the wellbeing of mankind. However, this could not play any substantial role in solving living beings’ problems of birth, aging, illness, death, and suffering.  As I have realized now, perhaps due to my karma, I did not understand at the time that I was a rinpoche and I should pursue complete liberation from life and death, ignorance and affliction and benefit living beings. Now, the more I think about this, the more I feel puzzled and embarrassed. Why didn’t I know this at that time?

 

 

Affinity

 

Near the end of 1993, I met a Buddhist master by chance at a tea party. A casual invitation from him provided the assistance for ripening my affinity for the dharma since beginning-less time.

I stepped into the Buddha Hall for the first time wearing the black robe of a Buddhist follower and then respectfully stood in front of the visage of Sakyamuni Buddha with my palms closed together to pay homage to the Buddha.  At the instant of my prostrating forward, I suddenly felt as if my body received an electric shock and my mind became blank. When the bell was ringing, my ears were like hearing the roaring of thunder. At the moment of starting to sing the Incense Anthem, the tears in my eyes were completely out of control and gushed out naturally. I had numb feelings from dharma joy all over my body. I was as happy as if I was returning home and seeing my family.

Naturally afterwards, I attended three consecutive sessions of seven-day meditations. Also, at the request of the Buddhist master, I established an organization named “Spring-Cultivation Dharma-Protecting Association” for Chung Tai Temple, to raise funds for providing education and living expenses to support bhiksus and bhiksunis as well as samis and sramanerikas who were studying in the Buddhist Academy of the Temple. This activity lasted six years and ended at the end of 1999.

During those days of contemplating and meditation, I often took the questions of “Who am I? Where did I come from?” as the koan of my contemplation. However, that did not lead to enlightenment. I spent most of my time after work on fund-raising and assisting living beings who had the affinity to attend dharma assemblies or three-day and seven-day meditation sessions. I was happy and never felt tired.

Once, I went with my wife to attend a big dharma assembly held at a pagoda. Because of a traffic jam on the road, we missed the start of the dharma assembly. When we arrived, the first half of the dharma assembly had already ended. We missed the singing of the Incense Anthem and the opportunity of offering incense to the Buddha. The site was filled with Buddhist believers and followers. My wife and I could only stand on the side silently watching the progress of the dharma assembly. A thought suddenly emerged in my mind to reflect upon myself. I felt that, as the president of a dharma-protecting association, how disrespectful I was to the dharma. A guilty feeing filled up my entire body. I realized that, even after many years of learning Buddhism, I did not eliminate the attachment to myself. On the contrary, I was devolving deeper and deeper. That was due to my having the undeserved reputation of being the association’s president and frequently receiving courteous receptions from the temple and the monks. I deeply repented in my mind. From then on, when going to the temple or attending a dharma assembly, I always arrived quietly and left quietly and did not accept any courteous reception or praise. I wanted to be mindful in behaving as a true Buddhist disciple.

 

 

 

Dharma Joy

 

In the beginning of 1999, a short trip of pilgrimage to the Buddhist holy sites in ancient India gave me the second feeling of returning home. In particular, when we were all prostrating around the Buddha’s Nirvana Temple in Kushinagar and respectfully lighting up 108 lights during the morning practice, suddenly dharma joy grabbed my entire body. I felt pleasantly serene and happy as if I was at the side of Sakyamuni Buddha. The feeling of coming back to home was so good! However, this was only a feeling from my emotions. I did not reach enlightenment in Buddha-dharma. There was no realization power to talk about. I kept asking myself whether this was due to my heavy karmic blockage. Otherwise why didn’t I receive practical benefits from the practice of meditation and some other dharmas? The more I thought about this, the more I felt that I was a very inferior person. The more inferior I felt, the more I was determined to learn and master Buddha-dharma.

One day, I received a copy of the book True Stories about a Holy Monk from a fellow Buddhist friend. I opened the book and started to read. Upon reading into the section about Buddha bestowing nectars, I suddenly entered into a somewhat dazed state of mind. The holy scene of Buddha bestowing nectars emerged in my mind. Such impression appeared real but was illusionary, gave the feeling of between existence and non-existence, was felt like my own experience and lasted a long time before disappearing. There was an indescribable joy in my mind.  From that, I was sure that this is the true Buddha-dharma and is truly what I should quest for, rely upon and practice. After reading the book, I often felt in my mind an urge of wishing to meet and pay respect to the great holy one in person as early as possible. On the other hand, I also felt sad for the expected departure from the monk students at the Buddhist Academy whom I supported for quite a few years.

One day, on my way to work in the morning, this question came to my mind again. I suddenly felt a lump in my throat and tears gushed out from my eyes. I uncontrollably burst into a big cry. I managed to hold off my feelings to drive into the underground parking lot of my company. Once the car stopped, I could not control my emotions any longer and I cried for 20 minutes in the car. My eyes became swollen. I repeatedly beseeched Kuan Shi Yin Bodhisattva to empower me and point out my way. After a while, I thought that for a person with such heavy karmic blockage, how could it be possible for me to receive empowerment and guidance from Kuan Shi Yin Bodhisattva?

I put on a pair of sunglasses and went into my office. I sat on my chair with my mind being blank. Within five minutes, my secretary came in and asked me if I wanted to answer a phone call from a fellow Buddhist sister. I said yes. Once I picked up the phone, from whatever she told me over the phone, the only thing I could remember was “Brother, would you like to go on a trip to pay respect to the great holy master?” At that time, I happily answered, “Yes, Yes, I do!” I immediately prostrated on the ground with my palms together to thank Kuan Shi Yin Bodhisattva for pointing out the path for me.

 

 

Meeting My Buddha Master and Becoming a Disciple

 

I flew across the Pacific Ocean to the United States to pay respect to my greatest and kindest Buddha Master, H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, in the end of 1999. When I respectfully presented my offering gift as homage to the dharma with a pure white hada in prostration, my heart was beating heavily and my eyes dared not face upward. However, with only one brief peek, I felt enlightened right away. My instinct told me that this great holy being in front of my eyes is a Buddha! At the instant when the Buddha’s eyes were staring very benevolently at me, I felt that an extremely strong force of empowerment was transmitted from the top of my head into my entire body. My whole body felt very warm. This time I really came back home! I felt extremely confident and tears flooded out of my eyes. I did not have enough words to describe the dharma joy I had at the time.

After I had calmed down my feeling, my Buddha Master spoke to me, “Weren’t you looking at the sky since your childhood to search for answers? I will tell you now.” My Buddha Master told me the important affinities in my current life as well as the affinities between my Buddha Master and me from the past lifetimes. My Buddha Master also told me to buy an alms bowl and bring it back immediately. I and Henghsing Gyatso Rinpoche immediately bid farewell to my Buddha Master and left. We asked a fellow sister to drive us to a shopping mall to buy an alms bowl. Because of our unpreparedness, we could not find the alms bowl we needed. In the end, I had to buy a porcelain soup bowl with cover and came back. My Buddha Master looked at it and then asked Henghsing Gyatso Rinpoche who took me to buy the bowl whether he had provided any suggestion or advice to me. Henghsing Gyatso Rinpoche answered, “No, I did not. He chose the bowl and bought it on his own decision. I did not do anything for him.” At that time, I presented the bowl to my Buddha Master. My Buddha Master told me, “Do not hand it to me. I will not touch your bowl. You go and fill it with water by yourself.”

I immediately washed clean the porcelain bowl I bought with pure water and wiped it dry with the hada. Then I, by myself, filled it with pure water and respectfully laid it on a square dharma table that was before us.  My wife and I prostrated in front of the dharma table. We respectfully held our palms together and kept chanting “Om, Ah, Hum!” My Buddha Master was at a distance of more than three meters from us and conducting the dharma at the top of a tall dharma rostrum. Not long after, at my Buddha Master’s dharma decree, bodhi holy water penetrated the side of the bowl and flowed out. I saw with my eyes that dharma water permeated through the surface of the porcelain bowl filled with pure water and flowed onto the table. At this time, at every dharma decree from my Buddha Master, the dharma water flowed to the left, right, or forward, exactly as instructed. My wife and I gazed at the scene and were simply speechless. My Buddha Master told us, “I will use this bodhi holy water to set up the mandala to guard against demons from stealing the dharma. I am going to perform an initiation for you two.” After that, my Buddha Master sprinkled dharma water around the perimeter of the mandala (Buddhist altar for transmitting Buddha-dharma or worshipping Buddhas and Bodhisattvas) to prevent evil beings and demons from listening to the Tathagata Dharma. Then the ceremony of initiation started. At the moment of dharma water sprinkling down to my head, I felt an extremely pleasantly cool feeling of empowerment that was pouring from the top of my head to my heart. The dharma joy I experienced at the time cannot be described in written languages.

During the six years before meeting my kind Buddha Master, because of my foolishness, deep and heavy attachment to the self and various types of ignorance, I created much dark karma. Consequently, my health was deteriorating steadily as time went by and eventually had to be sustained by medicine and the injection of placenta extract. My complexion was black and dark. Upon seeing me for the first time, my Buddha Master told me, “Your health is not good. I will teach you a dharma now. You should make a good effort in practicing it. You will get well.” In the years since then, I cultivated by adhering to the teaching and practiced according to the dharma. Miraculously, my health has recovered completely. From the year end of 2002 until now, I have not had much illness to speak of. Except going to the dentist office once a year to clean my teeth, I did not visit any hospital or clinic. For a 1,000-mile long-distance driving of 16 hours from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon, I drove by myself without a stop and did not even feel tired. All these come from the empowerment of the great Buddha-dharma from my Buddha Master!

Before respectfully meeting my Buddha Master, I heard that my Buddha Master had been living in a room on the second floor of a fellow brother’s home, where the space is small. My wife and I immediately had the idea of offering a house to my great and kind Master, for propagating Buddha-dharma in America. Upon being led into the mandala where we became my Buddha Master’s disciples, the wish of offering the house emerged immediately. We respectfully reported to my Buddha Master and beseeched my Buddha Master’s benevolence to accept it. However, while my wife and I respectfully stated what we intended to present, my Buddha Master replied, “I accept your sincere wish but I do not accept the house. However, I will temporarily stay in your home for two years.” My Buddha Master’s discourse made me very surprised. For years, I had been cultivating and practicing in exoteric sects of Buddhism. I supported and made offerings to many monks, dharma masters and major temples. I never received a response like that. The conduct of the Buddha is so pure, selfless, faultless and great as to beyond my imagination. Later on, I also made offerings of great sums of money. My Buddha Master also declined them all. Where in the world can you find such person? There is no such eminent monk even among eminent monks. Only Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Buddha-land possess such holiness and pureness.

 

 

Saving Deceased Beings

 

My father-in-law was a teacher. He devoted his entire life to his students. Because of his serious attitude in teaching, he received lots of commendations and praises in the area and was well-known as a good teacher. However, his biggest shortcoming was in his stubborn character and erroneous view toward Buddhism. In the fall of 2001, he passed away from illness in his liver.

When I received the phone call from my wife in Taiwan informing me the sad news, I immediately reported to my Buddha Master and beseeched my Buddha Master to bless and save the deceased. From the love and compassion of my Buddha Master, a holy dharma assembly for saving deceased souls was held next day at the mandala. Quite a number of people attended the dharma assembly.

First, a mandala was set up at the site. Two inclined paths were made using cardboard. The upper-inclined path was the road to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. The lower-inclined path was the road to the six realms. The area in between was the sphere of bardo (the intermediate stage between death and reincarnation). On a sheet of white paper, I wrote down the three characters of my father-in-law’s name, “Chen Ming Chuan.” H.E. Denma Tsemang II also wrote the name of his deceased father on another sheet of white paper. After that, the two sheets of paper were laid on the platform representing the sphere of bardo. My Buddha Master then entered into a dharma tent at the front to conduct the dharma. Two rinpoches were chanting mantras and conducting a dharma at the outer area of the mandala. Quite a few laypersons were watching respectfully with the palms held together at the side. Shortly after my Buddha Master started to conduct the dharma, we all saw with our own eyes that the two sheets of paper written with the names of the deceased, upon the “Hum” command from my Buddha Master, immediately started to go up along the upper-inclined path and arrived at the surrounding area next to the platform with the circular diagram of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. A short while later, we heard another decree of “Hum.” The two sheets of paper started to walk quickly again. They entered into the platform with the circular diagram of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and stopped at a location toward the west side. At this time, we heard my Buddha Master’s discourse from the dharma tent, “Chen Ming Chuan and so-and-so have been elevated to the lower level of the middle section of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.”

I was very excited upon hearing this information. At the same time, I felt very sorry because, for this dharma assembly, my Buddha Master had not eaten anything for a whole day and had been preparing for the rituals of this dharma. With the great compassionate bodhicitta of a Buddha, living beings’ interests are always the top priority and the self interest of my Buddha Master is always pushed to the side. Only after the beseeching of everybody, my Buddha Master entered the dining room to have a meal. At the same time, I was called in to receive a discourse. My Buddha Master told me, “Your father-in-law was quite stubborn. However, he was successfully saved. That is his reward of fortune and is also due to your filial love.” Upon hearing this, my eyes were full of tears and the gratitude in my heart was indescribable. Later, my Buddha Master discoursed to everyone, “The two deceased were first elevated to the surrounding land of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss where they would dwell in iron lotuses. Because iron lotuses open up only once in a thousand years, I conducted the dharma again to have them elevated to the lower level of the middle section of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.”

I respectfully prostrated to my Buddha Master and left. I was at the outside of the mandala by myself. A feeling of sorrow emerged from my heart. I was thinking about my father and mother who had already passed away. They did not have the good fortune to be saved by my Buddha Master. I made a vow at that time. I must cultivate and study hard in order to attain great accomplishment in this lifetime so I can return the favor to my parents for raising and educating me. Also, I will dedicate the merit from the cultivation to my parents, family members, children, and related living beings from my past lifetimes in the countless eons since the beginning-less time. When I raised my head to look at the bright Moon after making the vow, I suddenly discovered that a multi-colored light ring appeared around the Moon. It was very beautiful. I immediately went back to the mandala to report this holy scene to my Buddha Master. My Buddha Master gave me a discourse, “This can be regarded as an auspicious phenomenon.”

 

 

Holy Incidents

 

Since my Buddha Master moved into my home, many holy incidents occurred at that mandala. Later, even after my Buddha Master moved to another place and my home became the Office of Reception, holy scenes still appear constantly. With this affinity, I am going to describe another holy incident that happened here.

At the noon of March 21, 2005, on the grounds of the Office of Reception, in the center of the front gate to my Buddha Master’s Nectar Robe and Bowl Mandala, a golden cudgel with dazzlingly bright white and red light beams descended from the sky and inserted onto the ground. Light beams emitted from the golden cudgel were brighter than the sunlight. Red light rays were emitting outward continuously from the golden cudgel. This holy scene was shot with a camera by a lucky fellow sister of mine who is a news reporter. This fellow sister realized that such rare and holy opportunity could not be encountered in perhaps thousands of years. She went forward to hug the golden cudgel with her two arms. However, she was not able to stand the huge holy energy emitted by the golden cudgel and fainted lying on the ground.

Numerous unimaginable scenes were present in the photo she took. A huge and straight golden cudgel emitting shining red light inserted from the blue sky into the ground. It faced directly toward the front gate of the Nectar Robe and Bowl Mandala. The intensity of the light emitted far exceeded that of the sunlight and was dazzlingly shining. Due to the comparison, the sunlight appeared relatively weak and changed its color. At the same time, a five-colored light ring appeared around the golden cudgel. Five-colored auspicious clouds were seen in the blue sky. Even the white wall of the house turned red. To the right of the top of the golden cudgel, three seed characters of Buddhism, “Om”, “Ah”, and “Hum”, appeared clearly in their corresponding colors of white, red and blue respectively. In addition, there were a series of unrecognizable characters and symbols in the clouds. Some people saw the appearing of vajra dharma protectors in the clouds at the right side. The views were all very magnificent.

The reporter fellow sister who was fortunate to take this photo published this news on the newspaper. She swore that everything reported was true fact with an extremely severe curse as the consequence of telling any lie.

The reporter fellow sister asked my Buddha Master, over the phone, that this affinity was the manifestation of the dharma from what merit of my Buddha Master and whether such scene had been seen before. My Buddha Master replied, “I am a humble being. What merit do I have to manifest the dharma? The greatness of Sakyamuni Buddha is what you should truly face and recognize sincerely. I am ashamed. I never saw any holy scene. All scenes I saw were illusionary.”

 

 

Defeating Demons with Buddha-Dharma

 

Since my Buddha Master came to America to propagate Buddha-dharma, many bhiksus, bhiksunis and rinpoches have travelled from far away to pay respect to my Buddha Master, become disciples and quest for dharma. Their number kept growing. In order to provide a place for numerous monastic persons to learn and practice the correct Budhda-dharma, a temple was established. My Buddha Master sold several of his paintings to raise the funds and bought a church in the city of San Francisco as the site of the temple of correct Budhda-dharma for monastic cultivators to live and propagate Buddha-dharma to benefit living beings. When I heard this news, I immediately reported to my Buddha Master my wish of offering the expenses of the fix-up and being personally in charge of the renovation project. My Buddha Master looked at me with his benevolent eyes and give permission to my request.

The purchased church was constructed over one hundred years ago by immigrants from Germany when they came to San Francisco. Upper-grade red wood was used as the building materials. However, because of aging and lack of repairs, more time would be required for fix-up this time. In order to repair first the already damaged and leaking roof and outer walls before the arrival of the rainy season in winter, we immediately set up the scaffolds and surrounding fences and started the initial phase of the project.

On the scaffolds, many pieces of wood boards of the size of 1’x8’x2” were laid for workers to stand on and carry out the work. During the first week of construction, evil spirits and demons came to make trouble. The situation was very horrible. At night, the weather became very bad with strong winds and heavy rains. Winds were as strong as a hurricane. I reported the situation to my Buddha Master right away. My Buddha Master told us, “This is because heavenly demons are making trouble. You should not be afraid. These heavenly demons will not be able to create an upheaval.” However, we were still very worried. This was because if collapsing of scaffolds or dropping off of wood boards caused injury to pedestrians or damage to the neighboring homes, spending money to pay for compensation is just a small matter. The more serious consequence would be potential requests from the neighbors for stopping the project citing such danger, or they might use this as an excuse to raise objections at the future public hearing. Then the project would be delayed and the date of completion postponed indefinitely. In the worst case, the temple might not be created at all.

At that time, the evil spirits and demons were very vicious and extremely fierce. Wood boards were first lifted from the scaffolds by 10 meters or higher. The boards then kept rotating in the sky, as if they would drop onto the neighbors’ homes anytime to damage the houses and hurt lives inside. However, due to the blessing and empowerment from my Buddha Master, such disturbances were completely contained by dharma protectors. All boards rotating in the sky were limited within the construction site of the temple and then dropped to the empty ground of the temple. Only two pieces fell onto and were inserted into the roof of the house next to the temple that had been reserved as a dormitory for the nuns. People working on the project were very surprised to see the outcome and thought this was totally beyond imagination. It was truly a miracle. The strong winds that caused our concern of possibly delaying the project did not bring any catastrophic outcome. The insurance company paid for the damage to the temple’s property and thus made their merited contribution to the project. We were very grateful to the blessings from my Buddha Master, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and dharma protectors!

As the project of renovation gradually was reaching its end, we started to plan and work on the manufacturing of the Buddha statues to be worshiped inside the temple. Based on my Buddha Master’s instructions, a statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva was to be enshrined at the main gate on the first floor; the Hall of Mahavira on the first floor should worship a sitting statue of Sakyamuni Buddha; and a sitting statue of Amitabha Buddha should be worshipped inside the grand hall on the second floor. The statue of Amitabha Buddha was paid for with my Buddha Master’s money from selling paintings. The molding of the statue was also based on the blue print drawn by my Buddha Master. During the process of molding, my Buddha Master modified the model eight times in person. All places that did not conform to the stipulation of the dharma were corrected and re-molded. After the completion, this statue was judged to be the most solemn Buddha statue in the world. The statue of Sakyamuni Buddha inside the Hall of Mahavira was an offering from me. After the respectful molding of all Buddha statues was completed, because the height of the statue of Amitabha Buddha to be enshrined on the upper floor was 6.7 meters (22 feet) and two narrow stairways with 180-degree turns have to be passed to go upstairs, the manufactured Buddha statue had to be first cut into several pieces and reassembled together after moving onto the second floor. Therefore, based on my rough estimation of the sizes, this statue was divided into seven parts and shipped in three containers to Hua Zang Si (the temple).

After the Buddha statue was unloaded, we were all participating in carrying each part of the statue respectfully and carefully to the second floor. We were surprised to find that the sizes of the seven components all fit correctly into the narrow space in the stairway and all turns were made smoothly on the way to the second floor. In addition, there was no damage to the surface paint coating or any other place of the Buddha statue, thanks to the blessings from all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as well as dharma protectors.

The process of installing the Buddha statues into seats and surface gold-gilding went very smoothly. In about a week’s time, all three Buddha statues were located on their seats. We all happily stood in front of the Buddha statues with unlimited reverence in our minds. Such solemn grand Buddha statue can only be seen at Hua Zang Si in San Francisco of America, because it was made under the personal guidance from my Buddha Master!

 

 

Yun Sculpture

 

The coming of Yun Sculpture to this world was in response to living beings’ affinities. Yun Sculpture was created by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III for mankind. I was fortunate to serve people in the world by using my camera to take photos of the ultimately wonderful images of Yun Sculptures.

One morning, my Buddha Master told me, “There are still too few artworks of Yun Sculpture. I will make one more. You should be prepared to take pictures tonight.” A while later, I saw my Buddha Master cutting a gigantic piece of material with a diameter of 4.8 feet and a height of 9 feet. Soon, an outline shape appeared. At this time, my Buddha Master told us to carry it into the vajra inner mandala. Then my Buddha Master brought many pieces of vajras, moon-shaped knives, and very sharp small knives. There was also a table full of picking knives, drills, hammers, three-headed forks, and steel sticks. Now, my Buddha Master was to conduct the dharma in preparation for carving the sculpture. All of us, including rinpoches and dharma masters, exited from the mandala. While we were outside, we heard the sound of ping, ping, and pong, pong. After about two hours, we heard a bell ringing. My Buddha Master called us to enter the mandala. We saw that the ground was full of remnants of the material. An extremely holy and pure white-colored artwork of Yun Sculpture “A Pillar Holding Up Heaven” emerged in the inner mandala. All people present stared at the scene with great surprise and were simply speechless. This is absolutely unachievable by human abilities. The fine, delicate and mysterious structure represented a level of superiority that is simply impossible for human minds to comprehend. As a metaphor, let’s assume that a capable great master of art is present in this world. It would take him at least one hundred years without any time of rest before he could finish half of the work, not to mention that such artwork is not what great art masters can create.

When I was informed to take pictures in that evening, I was very excited. I would now have another opportunity of using the viewing window of the camera to deeply comprehend the truth that the great Buddha-dharma is present everywhere in the vast and boundless space of the universe. I arrived at the mandala at 10 o’clock in the evening. My Buddha Master led me to the working table where the artwork was. When my Buddha Master took off the black plastic cloth covering the artwork, the extremely holy and pure white-colored artwork of Yun Sculpture “A Pillar Holding Up Heaven” appeared in front of me. I immediately prostrated to pay respect. What I saw was manifestation of true realization of Buddha-dharma. It was accomplished by my Buddha Master in only two hours. Only a Buddha can possess such holy realization. Since I met my Master and became a disciple, even though my Master always stated that he is a servant of living beings, I always firmly believe that my Master is a Buddha! I prostrated to pay respect to my great Buddha Master, to the great Buddha-dharma, and to the great Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as well as holy dharma-protecting devas in the entire universe. That night, the outside temperature came down to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I still felt very warm in my heart. My wife and several dharma masters were holding up the lights. I used the viewing window of the camera to capture the ultimate wonderful and enchanting scenes from another world one by one. Only until my fingers became stiff, did I realize that it was already 1:30am in the morning.

After a year and nine months, my Buddha Master decided to place “A Pillar Holding Up Heaven” in an display cabinet. This task was assigned to fellow brother Qi Pengzhi. He first carefully drew the ground trace closely around the bottom edge of the artwork on the baseboard. To determine accurately the location of the center of the artwork, he used black color to draw a closed outline around the artwork. At that time, we all found that the size of the display cabinet which had been already-built based a previous calculation was too small. The vertical projection of the upper-portion of the artwork exceeded the boundary of the baseboard. The body of the artwork was too big to fit inside the display cabinet. When he reported the situation, my Buddha Master seriously criticized us, “Why didn’t you do the measurement right earlier? Wouldn’t this display cabinet costing thousands of dollars be useless now?” Then my Buddha Master faced “A Pillar Holding Up Heaven” and casually spoke to himself, “It would be nice if you could become a little smaller! ….” After that, six of us lifted “A Pillar Holding Up Heaven” off the baseboard and placed it on the floor. Because it was such a precious piece and worth so much, we were all guarding the spot.

Approximately five hours passed. We then lifted it onto the baseboard in preparation for taking pictures. Just as “A Pillar Holding Up Heaven” was moved up to the baseboard where Brother Qi Pengzhi had previously drawn the black trace, a fellow disciple suddenly yelled, “Hey, it has become the magic stick of Sun Wu Kong (the Monkey King)!” We then all looked at it again. To our surprise, “A Pillar Holding Up Heaven” had actually shrunk. With only my Buddha Master’s words of “become a little smaller!…”, it actually shrank and fit perfectly into the display cabinet.

At this moment, Brother Qi Pengzhi traced a red line around the bottom edge of the artwork once again on the same baseboard that had the previously traced black line. When comparing the two traces, we found that, in the direction where it had been too wide, the artwork had actually shrunk by more than two inches. The entire upper portion of the artwork shrank and fit perfectly into the display cabinet. This inanimate piece of artwork which had already been finalized into its shape was truly magnificent and unbelievably amazing!

 

 

Green Tara

 

In Tibet, Green Tara is as popularly worshipped as Kuan Shi Yin Bodhisattva is in the Han (mandarin) areas of China. However, through the hundreds of years of propagation among the population, there have been losses of various degrees in the essence of the dharma and the configuration of mandala in the depicted thangka (Tibetan-styled visage paintings) of the Green Tara Mandala. Therefore, my Buddha Master instructed me to, according to the complete configuration of the mandala and rituals of the dharma, use modern technologies to produce a stereoscopic Mandala of Green Tara in the three-dimensional (3D) space, for the meditation, visualization, and worshipping by believers and followers who have the affinity. I immediately started the production upon receiving the instruction and eventually accomplished this task with the help from many Buddhists and followers.

In the process of production, we saw manifestations of holy incidents. Numerous changes took place from the photo of the original visage of Green Tara to the final visage of Green Tara after the completion of production. Originally, we saw one more finger on the right hand of Green Tara that was forming a mudra and holding the Wubala flowers. However, it disappeared to nowhere after the production. In addition, the red-colored ruby stone on top of the treasure crown became a piece of green-colored Jade. Also, the blue-colored jewel stone on the chest turned into a red-colored ruby stone after production. Besides, the visage of Green Tara was changing constantly during the production process. Consequently, an inanimate visage took on an extremely solemn appearance of real form.

When I report this holy incident to my Buddha Master, he told me, “This is due to the empowerment from the respected Green Tara but do not be attached to the phenomenon.” At another time, my Buddha Master came to our workshop to empower us. I prostrated in front of my Buddha Master. My Buddha Master said to me, “You are a great rinpoche. However, you still have attachment to yourself. Later on, you will stand out to propagate the dharma and benefit living beings. You should work hard on your cultivation.” Upon hearing that, I repented myself in my mind. At the same time, I made a vow of bodhicitta of great compassion in me. I was grateful to my Buddha Master’s forecast and looked forward to the maturing of this affinity, in order to contribute what I could to living beings.

From 1999 to 2007, the time of over 7 years flew away very fast. I truly felt the truth that a disciple will not attain accomplishment if he travels long and away from his master. Therefore, I would come to America whenever I had a chance to be close to my great and kind Buddha Master. I also volunteer for carrying out tasks of propagating Buddhism whenever possible. Even if it is just a trivial matter of, say, running an errand, I would take it as a holy Buddhist endeavor and work hard and attentively on it, without any complaining.

My sincere and honest heart toward my Buddha Master and Buddha-dharma has always been observed by dharma protectors in charge of patrolling and inspection. During the testing of Four Open Tests and Four Secret Tests given by my Buddha Master based on the stipulation of the dharma, I violated the precepts because of the arising of not-good thoughts toward my Buddha Master and Buddha-dharma. I was close to failing the testing. Fortunately, my good root since many lifetimes and eons was always able to manifest and make me reflect upon myself at the right time. I understood my mistakes and repented and corrected myself in time in front of my Buddha Master, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and dharma protectors. Thus, I was able to pass successfully the test every time. During this period of time, I received many supreme, profound, and subtle holy inner-tantric initiations and acquired many profound and subtle tantric dharmas that my Buddha Master transmitted to me. At the time of every dharma transmission, I was able to personally witness or feel the empowerment from my Buddha Master and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the siddhi power from the lineage of Buddha-dharma, and the manifestations of various holy realizations.

Recognition

 

One day near the end of 2007, at 10 o’clock in the evening, I received a phone call from an attendant of my Buddha Master, instructing me to go to a mandala at a specific location. I immediately drove there according to the instruction. Upon arriving there, I was led by the attendant into a solemn mandala. My Buddha Master was sitting upright on the dharma dais, emitting auspicious white light rays from his entire body. I stepped forward and prostrated to pay respect. With my palms together, I kneeled to listen to my Buddha Master’s discourse. My Buddha Master opened his benevolent eyes, looked at me and said, “I have observed you for eight years. Although you made faults and mistakes during this period, these did not cover up your original identity. Moreover, your overall conduct and cultivation are good. You should stand up to propagate Buddha-dharma and benefit living beings. Do you have anything to say?” I replied, “This is what I have been longing for day and night. I will act according to Buddha’s teaching, enlighten myself, and actively save and transform all living beings that have the right affinity.” My Buddha Master spoke again, “Good! You are a rinpoche. In this earthly world, among 1,000 rinpoches, more than 990 of them are false ones. You are one of the rare and hard-to-come-by ones among my rinpoche disciples. I hope that you will always be mindful to propagate Buddha-dharma and benefit living beings. Come to this mandala tomorrow morning. I will hold a dharma-transmitting ceremony for you.”

Thus, on the auspicious day and propitious time of next morning at the mandala, I received the dharma that my great Buddha Master personally transmitted to me. My Buddha Master gave me a dharma name Gadu and awarded me a tuft of hair. My fellow brother Venerable Xirao Jiebu II was at the side guarding the mandala. He also helped me to take off my cloth of a layperson and put on the dharma robe of a rinpoche. I felt very fulfilling in my mind. Since coming to this earthly world in my current life, I waited exactly sixty years for this moment to come.

My firm belief of “My master is a Buddha” that I had in my mind since becoming a disciple was finally confirmed from the treasure book of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that was presented to the Congress of the United States by the International Buddhism Shanga Association on April 3, 2008. The answer is that Dorje Chang Buddha is the first sambhogakaya Buddha with form in the universe. Amitabha Buddha and other Buddhas are His disciples. Sakyamuni Buddha, the supreme leader of Buddhism in this world, also attained Buddha-hood because of becoming a disciple of the ancient Dipankara Buddha who was transformed by Dorje Chang Buddha. Therefore, without Dorje Chang Buddha, there would be no Buddha-dharma and no teaching and studying of Buddhism. Consequently, there would be no Buddhism and no Buddhist disciples like us. The revelation of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III was based on the stipulation of the dharma and was truly recognized by the highest leaders of Buddhist sects and schools in the world with numerous respectful congratulations (Please respectfully read the treasure book H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III for the detailed records). This is exactly as the following announcement from the International Buddhism Shanga Association states based on examining the records and actual accomplishment of Buddhists, eminent monks, and virtuous ones in the world:

“This lineage is the true lineage from the first primordial sambhogakaya Buddha, Dorje Chang Buddha and is directly transmitted by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. The lineage of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is not self-claimed or self-appointed. It was confirmed and concluded in writing by great holy virtuous ones in today’s world in accordance with the stipulation and rules of the dharma. It is not only legitimate but also has far exceeded by many times the standard of a legitimate recognition of Three Masters and Ten Witnesses. In the entire history of Buddhism of several thousand years, there has never been a dharma king or great rinpoche who received such status of recognition as H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III did. The numbers of certificates of recognitions and congratulatory letters are not surpassed by any holy virtuous one. Confirmations, actual verifications and evaluations received are also the highest and the most in history. The heights of only the thirty categories of accomplishments that are published are also never achieved by any holy virtuous one. All these are vivid and live facts that are laid in front of us, not some fictitious stories created with words. In reality, recognitions of any form are simply not important at all to H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Did Sakyamuni Buddha need any recognition? Recognition has absolutely no value to a Buddha because recognitions or no recognitions simply do not explain the essential differences between holy ones and ordinary beings! The key is in whether you possess true Buddha-dharma, whether you possess holy realization and whether you and your disciples have your crowns opened. Without opening your crown, your skull is the same as any ordinary person. Then you are just an ordinary person, a mundane person. Regardless of who gave you the recognition and how many recognitions you got, you do not have true Buddha-dharma and only have the nature of a false holy person. In contrast, if you are able to open your disciple’s crown and let him attain accomplishment on the spot, even if you do not have any recognition or you are even slandered as a bad person, you are still a true holy person and have true Buddha-dharma and the nature of a Buddha! This is similar to an example of weight-lifting champion. No matter who and how many people wrote recognitions for you to label and claim you as a weight-lifting champion, if you did not lift the heaviest weight, you are not the champion. On the other hand, if another person who did not have any recognition to label and claim him lifted up the heaviest weight that no one else was able to do, he is the true weight-lifting champion.”

The importance of the question I had earlier, “Who am I? Where did I come from?”, that was often the koan I used during the days of practicing contemplation and meditation has been steadily decreasing as the time of my following Buddha Master goes by. What my many past lifetimes were is not as important as the fact that I can be at the side of my Buddha Master and personally receive the teaching from my Buddha Master’s discourses and personal examples in this life. One day, my Buddha Master called me into the mandala. I respectfully prostrated to pay respect and held my palms together to listen to the discourse. My Buddha Master took out paper and pen and personally wrote “Yundun Duojibai V, Gadu” on the paper. Meanwhile, my Buddha Master discoursed to me, “Your first incarnation was a great rinpoche of the Nyingma Sect. This is your fifth reincarnation. You have been learning in a division of tantra. The goal of practicing tantra is to attain Buddha-hood in the current lifetime. However, you must know that there are many people who learned or are learning tantra. How many of them became a Buddha? Can anyone become a Buddha without opening his crown and still having a skull of ordinary being? You will see the true facts very quickly.”

I held up the dharma paper with my Buddha Master’s personal writing and respectfully exited the mandala. My mind was as calm as still water and full of gratefulness toward my Buddha Master’s loving and compassionate care. A few days later, from the state of realization that emerged before me while doing my daily dharma practice, I learned that my first incarnation, Yundun Duojibai (also known as Yungtön Dorjepel) was a monk of the Nyingma Sect and was also the prior generation of the first Panchen Lama in the lineage of the Panchen Lama. Subsequently, I searched sources of information to verify this state of realization. As recorded in the literature, there had been seven incarnations before the first-generation Panchen, Khedrup Je (also known as Khedrup Gelek Pelzang). In the chorological order, they were Subhuti, King Rigden Trakpa of Shambhala, Bhāvaviveka, Abhayākaragupta, Great Translator Gö Khugpa, Sakya Pandita, and Yundun Duojibai. So I got an independent confirmation. I deeply realized the truth that the law of cause and effect never errors. The affinity of my determination of reincarnating to save and transform living beings in many lifetimes and eons led to the good fruit in the current life, so that I had the opportunity of paying respect to and becoming a disciple of my great Buddha Master. Also, I received recognition by my Buddha Master in person and the utmost high-level great dharma of empowerment. My Buddha Master conducted initiation and transmitted dharma to empower me so I attained the realization of crown-opening to the heaven realm with the Niwan Daoguo (Niwan is a meridian spot on the top of one’s crown at the location of the frontal fontanel and Daoguo means the fruit of accomplishment).

In order to let living beings have the opportunity of selecting an authentic master who can guide them in cultivation in this dharma-ending era, it is necessary to conduct the testing and measurement of holy acharya initiation and vajra power on every rinpoche who propagates Buddha-dharma and benefits living beings directly. At the time of my test, I prostrated facing the dharma rostrum in the mandala where the dharma was to be conducted and respectfully put a vajra pill with the live nature and another ordinary vajra pill for reference onto the transparent glass dharma platform in person. I then covered the vajra pills with a transparent glass cup. I started to form mudra, enter into visualization, chant mantra, and conduct the dharma. Shortly after, the vajra pill with the live nature began to shake and move in the form of a vajra dance. After the dharma was finished, I held up the vajra stick that was empowered by the vajra pill to bless all Buddhist disciples of the seven classes who were present to observe.

This demonstration of realization gave me the greatest comfort of my current life. I deeply understand that my realization power has been preserved and I again personally stepped into the inner-tantric state of Buddha-dharma. I am very grateful to my Buddha Master, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and dharma protectors for reconnecting the realization power I had through the many lifetimes and eons, so that I, as the humble Yundun Duojibai, can empower living beings who have the right affinity and I can ascend to the dharma seat to perform initiation and transmit dharma to them.

 

Small Bodhi Tree

 

Before I started to propagate Buddha-dharma in the world, I saw in the Buddhist circle many kinds of chaotic phenomena in this dharma-ending era. The most serious problem is that, emerging from Buddhist monks, a class of famous people with very high identities and status erroneously interpret the precepts and doctrines taught by Sakyamuni Buddha and mislead living beings into wrong paths. Their minds are full of evil views and erroneous views. Therefore, the most urgent and pressing issue is how to let as many as possible Buddhist disciples to truly hear the supreme and profound tantric Buddha-dharma expounded by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III so they can first correct their knowledge and views and then step onto the path of cultivating according to the dharma. Because building up temples require large sums of funds and takes more time than we can afford to wait, I made a vow of planting 108 small bodhi trees (dharma-listening organizations that are set up in the homes of my disciples in Taiwan. I will send recorded dharma lessons to the homes of small bodhi trees so people who have the affinity can listen to the dharma lessons under the guidance of designated persons. I will conduct initiations for and transmit the dharma to them when the affinities become mature. Each small bodhi tree can be established with as few as 5 to 10 people. Once the number exceeds 10, members will be divided up to create another small bodhi tree. In such situation, flexible time arrangement can be made between dharma listeners and the volunteer leaders who are responsible for that organization. Meanwhile, I will also be able to take good care of them. Furthermore, no expense is required for establish a dharma-listening organization. Anyone can easily take up such responsibility. This idea coincidently agrees with the concept of “Master of Dhama-Listening Sessions” from my Buddha Master’s discourse. Therefore, it was quickly applied by the International Buddhism Shanga Association under the guidance of my Buddha Master. Shortly afterwards, representatives from over 280 dharma-listening organizations registered and took the first examination for the title of Master of Dhama-Listening Sessions. At the second examination, representatives from over 1000 dharma-listening organizations participated. From then on, the correct Buddha-dharma expounded by my Buddha Master has now quickly been distributed to various places in the world. Living beings in this earthly world are really fortunate now!

When I first started to propagate Buddha-dharma to living beings, the first thing coming to my mind was to save and transform my family members and relatives as well as my friends at the Rotary Club with whom I worked for many years and had brother-like friendship. The next ones are some fellow cultivators of mine at the exoteric sects of Buddhism. I thought that, with my great compassionate bodhicitta plus the recorded dharma discourses of my Buddha Master and the supreme and profound Tathagata Dharma I learned, it should be very easy to save and transform them. However, living beings’ thinking is different from my expectation. Although I established more than thirty Buddhist organizations in only a year or so, the number of persons from the group of my top-priority was much less than what I anticipated. I understand that all this is just the outcome from their affinities. In the eyes of a cultivator who takes propagating Buddha-dharma and benefiting living beings as his life-long mission, all living beings are equal. Everyone has his own unique affinity that cannot be changed according to my wish alone.

I constantly remind myself that I am just a shop keeper of a convenience store. Anyone who stepped into my store, regardless of old or young and rich or poor, is a customer whom I should honestly provide service to. I should work 24 hours a day and 365 days a year without any break. My motivation comes from the great compassionate bodhicitta. The best reward for me comes from living beings’ learning Buddhism sincerely and doing no evil and doing everything that is good.

Dharma Protector

 

My Buddha Master once discoursed to me, “A rinpoche should practice the dharma of dharma protectors, so that dharma protectors will come to your assistance in your endeavor of propagating Buddha-dharma. I will soon conduct an inner-tantric initiation of the dharma of the Dharma Protector Ruonama for you. That dharma protector was once the dharma protector of Master Tsongkhapa.”

Inside the solemn mandala, my Buddha Master gave me a red-colored vajra pill of the live nature which I held respectfully in my hand. I pressed my right ear firmly with my right hand to wait for the arrival of Dharma Protector Ruonama and to listen to his speech. Then, my Buddha Master started to conduct the dharma. I also concentrated my mind to perform my part of the rituals as instructed. A short while later, Dharma Protector Ruonama came and entered the vajra pill in my hand so it began shaking. Next, the pill started to talk. I immediately entered into visualization and chanted mantra. My Buddha Master declared in a sonorous and serious tone, “Here is a decree of dharma from me as Dorje Chang Buddha III. Dharma Protector Ruonama, Do you like to take the position of dharma protector for Gadu rinpoche?” Dharma Protector Ruonama immediately answered again and expressed his willingness. I also entered into visualization again and chanted mantra as my response to thank Dharma Protector Ruonama for his willingness to be my dharma protector.

After that, I swallowed that vajra pill as required by the stipulation of the dharma to establish the correspondence between my body and Dharma Protector Ruonama. My Buddha Master discoursed to me, “You have received the initiation and achieved the Generation Stage. From now on, you should practice according to the dharma and you will soon attain the Stage of Perfection.” In addition to the limitless gratefulness toward my great Buddha Master, in my mind, I was also very thankful to Dharma Protector Ruonama’s protection and support for being my dharma protector. I was also very happy for anyone who would have the affinity to become my disciple in the future. I hope that, besides receiving the empowerment and blessings from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we can also get the assistance from dharma protectors, so that we can be even more successful and proceed more smoothly on the path of propagating Buddha-dharma, benefiting living beings, and attaining accomplishment through cultivation.

When I returned to the Buddha hall and opened up the dharma book that I just respectfully received, I felt deeply ashamed. The dharma book clearly stated the prerequisites for practicing this dharma. The cultivator must have made the vow of benefiting living beings based on bodhicitta with great compassion. He must have already practiced the Horse-Head Vidyaraja Dharma, the Yamantaka Vajra Dharma, or the Dharma of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Furthermore, this dharma can only be practiced by practitioners who achieved the Generation Stage while receiving the holy inner-tantric initiation. There is no outer-tantric initiation for this dharma.

 

 

Test

 

The quest for Buddha-dharma has to be made from a respectful mind. The fruit of accomplishment can only reaped by having the truly pure and flaw-less three karmas of body, speech, and mind that correspond to the Four Jewels.

As I can remember, shortly after my Buddha Master moved into the new home at the location with a big yard that we called Park, we found a severely injured little squirrel on the ground of the garden. It fell from the tree after being attacked by a large squirrel. We carefully picked it up and reported to my Buddha Master.  After looking at it, my Buddha Master blessed it and gave it a name called “Deva Beast.” After that, it recovered very fast and was soon able to climb up and down the trees happily.

One day, my Buddha Master told me to build a new home for it. Inside, there should be a tree branch to let it climb. I immediately promised to do so. I thought that there were plenty of trees in the garden and I could easily find one branch from any tree. However, my Buddha Master’s reply to me was, “Nothing inside the mandala can be moved or altered.” I was told to bring a hand saw and go to a nearby park to see if any branch could be cut there. With an uneasy concern in mind, I followed my Buddha Master to the park. I worried that, in America, doing damage to tree branches in a park is an illegal act but I had to go because my Buddha Master told me so.

Once we arrived at the park, my Buddha Master looked here and there and commented, “This one is too long. This one is too short.” Then we saw one and my Buddha Master pointed toward it and said it was the best one. I stepped forward and was going to cut it. However, because of hesitation, my hand could not fall down. At this moment, my Buddha Master told me to stop and said, “We are not going to cut this one. It is for viewing by the public.” Then I said, “All trees in any park are for viewing by the public. What should we do?” My Buddha Master said, “You are right. We will not find any in parks.” So, in the end, we went around in the park without getting anything and returned home.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind. I reported to my Buddha Master, “I can find the tree branch that my Buddha Master asked for.” My child and I immediately got into the car and went East. This was because several months ago we drove by a nursery that sells trees. I wanted to take a look there. If there were any suitable tree, I planned to buy a whole tree and take only what we need. We would then leave the rest of the tree there.

After we arrived at the tree nursery and told the owner our purpose of finding a tree for building a new home of the little squirrel, he said, “You can look anywhere in my tree nursery. If you find what you want, you can just cut it off and take it. You don’t need to pay. My saw is here and you can take with you in the tree nursery. Just leave it back here after use.” My child and I were very moved by his offer and we thanked him repeatedly. The absolute majority of American people are loving and very admirable!

After we accomplished the task and returned to the Park, we built the new home for “Deva Beast” and reported to my Buddha Master. My Buddha Master was very happy and said, “Very good!” When I was doing my daily dharma practice that evening, I learned from my state of realization that my Buddha Master was using this event as an opportunity to test me to see whether I was an up-to-standard Buddhist disciple and whether I have the wisdom to, with the constraints of neither violating the decree from my Buddha Master nor hurting the interests of living beings, accomplish the task given to me from my Buddha Master. All these were the great pains taken by my Buddha Master from my Buddha Master’s love and compassion for helping a Buddha’s disciple become accomplished.

In order to eliminate my attachment to the concept of self, my Buddha Master once assigned me the responsibilities to edit, type-set, and publish a book. I was very happy upon receiving the manuscript and immediately proceeded with editing, making arrangement for printing and other things. I was confident that my good performance would make my Buddha Master happy. However, when I presented the printed book to my Buddha Master, my Buddha Master unexpectedly told me, “How did you do that? The book was printed so badly! And the coloring is not right either. You must have printed with three colors, not four colors….” Upon hearing my Buddha Master’s criticism, my mind became completely blank as if being stricken by a sudden thunder. The expectation of getting praise from my Buddha Master vanished instantly and was replaced by the disappointment from being reprimanded by my Buddha Master. Driven by my karmic hindrance of ignorance accumulated through many lifetimes and eons, disappointment toward my Buddha Master arose in my mind. My entire body was overwhelmed by dark karma for a long time. After returning home, I thought calmly and reflected upon myself. Suddenly, I was scared and my whole body was shaking. I realized that I had descended into the hell realm. Perhaps because of the manifestation of retribution from my good karma in the past, at this most critical moment, I was able to see my own sin and understand my Buddha Master’s love and compassion. This was just a pre-arranged test for breaking my attachment to myself that has existed in the field of eight consciousnesses in my mind through many lifetimes and eons. Without breaking away with the attachment to self, a practitioner will never be able to attain the holy state of realization. I immediately repented myself before my Buddha Master and beseeched my Buddha Master’s forgiveness. My Buddha Master said benevolently, “What is forgiveness? Everything is fine so long as you can correct your fault.”

During a period of time which was not short, my Buddha Master’s tests on me kept coming one after the other. However, it was difficult for me to know that these were tests. Some tests made me lose face in public; some caused pride and arrogance to arise in my mind; and some others seemed to be extremely unreasonable. Once, my Buddha Master assigned me to do one thing. I did it according to the instructions. A day later, my Buddha Master asked me, “Why did you do this?” I replied, “I did it following Buddha Master’s instructions.” However, my Buddha Master said, “Why didn’t I even know about that? You must be lying.” Then my Buddha Master asked other people to prove that I was wrong. My Buddha Master told me, “You never admit whatever you did wrong. From now on, when I tell you something, it has to be recorded.” Later, my Buddha Master did tell me to buy a video recorder for taping the live scenes of my Buddha Master giving instructions to me. Every time, I saved the video tape and kept it in my storage.

I am going to mention a few examples here. Once during the time of producing the 3D stereoscopic Mandala of Green Tara, my Buddha Master instructed me to contact someone to purchase the 3D manufacturing technology. I then approached that party according to my Buddha Master’s instructions. After reaching an agreement and signing the contract, I returned to my Buddha Master’s mandala and reported to my Buddha Master. However, quite unexpectedly, my Buddha Master told me, “When did I tell you to negotiate purchasing the 3D technology, not to mention signing the agreement?” At that time, I felt extremely sorry. I took out the video tape and said, “This was Buddha Master’s plan. I kept this video tape as proof.” My Buddha Master then told me, “You are really too horrible and even recorded a video tape on me. Well, let’s find a few rinpoches and dharma masters to prove the fact.”

So I played the video tape in front of the rinpoches and dharma masters. However, to my total surprise, in the video tape played, there was no image or sound sometimes or it simply showed that my Buddha Master did not speak what I had heard. My goodness I could never prove my innocence! I had watched the video at my home and everything was clear. Why was everything changed when it was played before my Buddha Master? Some sections totally disappeared to nowhere, while only gusty wind-like sound was left in other places. (I hereby make a vow on the truthfulness of the above story. If there is anything false in it, I am willing to accept the consequences from the law of cause and effect to be deaf and dumb and have handicapped hands in my next lifetime. If everything I said is true, I dedicate this merit to sentient beings in the Dharma Realm.)

Later I eventually realized the reason behind this. Imagine that, if my Buddha Master did not keep his word and were unreasonable like bad people in the world, how could his abilities be so great that recorded video and sound can be altered at will? How could my Buddha Master know clearly what I did in Taiwan? Often, when I report things to my Buddha Master, before I opened up my mouth, my Buddha Master would say, “You don’t need to say anything now. I tell you how you should proceed….” Then, what my Buddha Master told me was exactly what I was going to ask or the answer I needed. How could that possibly be the state of realization of an ordinary being? Such understanding provided me the support I need and let me completely wake up in my mind. I realized that my Buddha Master is a true Buddha and that his treating me this way must be due to some special affinity.

One day, it occurred to me that I had been learning Buddhism from my Buddha Master for so long and I had been talking about making offerings with my three karmas of body, speech and mind. However, all such talks had been false without any concrete actions. Therefore, after discussing with my wife, we decided to do our best and make an offering of ten million dollars. When we made the offering to my Buddha Master, my Buddha Master said, “I do not want ten million dollars. I want ten million and seventy thousand dollars exactly. Not a penny more, not a penny less. And it must be from your money in the bank or in your home. I will not accept if any money is from any other place. You cannot borrow from any relatives or friends and you cannot raise money from selling products. Also, the offering has to be made within five days starting tomorrow.”

After that, we collected together money from deposits in the bank, stocks, other marketable securities, repayment of money from others who borrowed from us, and cash we have at home. The total amount was $10,063,768.80. We just couldn’t get to the number $10,070,000.00. Therefore, we reported the situation to my Buddha Master. My Buddha Master’s reply was, “The amount you have is not enough. I do not want it. I will not accept it.” At that time, I was very concerned and searched one more time in every place that had money in my home. However, I still was not able to add up to the required $10,070,000.00. At last, I had to take a watch to a pawn shop. In the end, I collected that amount on Day 6. At that time, I was very happy and made a phone call to report to my Buddha Master. Quite unexpectedly, my Buddha Master said, “Didn’t you know that this is the sixth day already? I do not want this money anymore.” No matter what I tried to say, my Buddha Master still did not want the money. Our offering was completely refused.

Why did my Buddha Master insist on asking for $10,070,000.00 but it happened that we couldn’t get to that amount and was $6,231.20 short? Why I was forbidden from borrowing or using money my children had? At this time, it suddenly dawned on me that how could it possibly be that my Buddha Master wanted our offering! It was very clear that my Buddha Master already knew that we would never be able to come up with that amount. Actually, if my Buddha Master had permitted us to sell products, it would be a simple matter to get that amount. However, with the restrictions of not allowing us to sell products or borrow, all our channels to obtain additional money were closed. It was certain that my Buddha Master was using this difficult problem to test me. If not, why did it happen to be that particular amount, why was my children’s money not allowed, why I was not permitted to borrow from relatives, and why the money was declined when I put up enough money on the sixth day, only one day past the deadline? In the end, not a single penny was accepted. How could it be that this was a request for offering from us? It can only be a test for me.

Once I was ill and felt pain at the location of the liver. Examination found a lump there. My doctor diagnosed it to be a tumor. This result made me a little worried. Therefore, I reported this matter to my Buddha Master. My Buddha Master told me to have another examination at a different hospital. To be certain, I came to America to have the examination at a hospital. The result was the same. A few days later, my liver pain became more severe. The doctor suspected that it might be a malignant tumor and suggested to take a surgery sample exam. When I reported to my Buddha Master again, my Buddha Master said, “Of course you should go to hospital for treatment. However, as a Buddhist disciple and a future rinpoche, how could you act like an ordinary person? You do not have faith in your Master and got so scared. At least you should trust Buddha-dharma!”

After returning home, the more I thought, the more I felt sorry and regretted. How could I have any of my three karmas in correspondence? A lump of the size of 1.3” had scared me to death. How could I face the impermanence then? How could I end the cycle of birth and death? I felt really upset and sorry. I simply was not a pure Buddhist disciple. At that time, I made a deep repent according to the Dharma of Vajrasattva taught by my Buddha Master.  Then I went back to my Buddha Master’s mandala. My Buddha Master told me, “You need to spend some time on practice and cultivation. If you still cannot establish true confidence toward Buddha-dharma and your master, you will be all finished.” Actually at that time I already made up my greatest determination. I would rather give up my life than have even a little bit of disrespect toward Buddha-dharma.

I cultivated for half a month in Portland, Oregon. However, I always felt flurried in my heart. I wanted to see my Buddha Master. I thought that, even if I was going to die due to liver cancer, I still should acquire the dharma that can liberate me. So I came back to my Buddha Master to quest for the dharma. My Buddha Master told me, “Liver cancer is definitely fatal. You have to be prepared first. It would be fortunate to have you ascend to the World of Ultimate Bliss. Are you willing to accept that outcome?” I replied firmly, “I would rather give up my life than give up Buddha-dharma. As long as I can ascend to the World of Ultimate Bliss, Why do I need to worry about death?” My Buddha Master was very happy to see my determination and told me, “You should tell your wife that you will die soon.” Upon hearing what my Buddha Master said, I felt uneasy because I had not yet told my wife about my illness. I was afraid of making her worried. If I went ahead to tell her about this, how could she take such news all of a sudden? While I was having anxiety in my mind and thinking about how to tell my wife, my Buddha Master spoke again, “Your sincere and honest heart has moved me and has also moved Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions. Tomorrow, you go and take another X-ray film before you tell your fellow sister wife. Then you will not have difficulty in telling her.”

The next day, I made an appointment through my doctor to take an X-ray. Once the film was developed, we found that the tumor at the liver had disappeared to nowhere. Meanwhile, I realized there was no pain from my liver without knowing when it had stopped. I immediately went from the hospital to my Buddha Master’s mandala to report and express my gratefulness toward my Buddha Master’s blessing and empowerment. My Buddha Master said, “This is not something that you need to be grateful. Also, don’t tell your family about this.”

My Buddha Master continued, “You finally passed the test. You have to understand that this is a holy dharma that is difficult to encounter in hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of eons. I cannot let someone who is not up to the standards of dharma to steal the dharma easily. This is true Buddha-dharma. Although you are reincarnation of a rinpoche, because of going through the process of reincarnation, it is difficult to avoid carrying some karmic impedance with you. Therefore, there must be tests and examinations to see whether the seed of holy dharma in you has been contaminated or spoiled or not. Today, as your master, I congratulate you. I will open the mandala and transmit the very profound Buddha-dharma to you. This Buddha-dharma is the state practice empowerment dharma from  The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation and belongs to the dharma of the heaven realm. Once you receive the empowerment, within two hours, a hole will be opened at the Niwan spot on the top of your head. Your spirit and consciousness can come out and appear from there.” Then, my Buddha Master took out and let me read a book of written notes. After reading the records and facts from what my Buddha Master had written, I learned that all these were tests. The tests were on whether I truly possessed the characters of enduring disgrace and humiliation, whether I had the highest loyalty and honesty above anything else toward my Buddha Master, and whether I was a seed for receiving upper-class Buddha-dharma. Thinking back about that experience now, I have various kinds of feelings mixed together. Had there been a wrong deviation in my mind, I would not have had the opportunity of receiving the Buddha-dharma from my Buddha Master!

At that time, however, although I felt fortunate to learn the dharma, there was doubt in my mind that I could not get rid of. I simply could not believe what my Buddha Master stated about having my crown opened at the Niwan spot within two hours. The more I thought about this, the more I was worried. This was truly peculiar and absolutely unheard of. Having a hole opened on the crown was definitely not an ordinary matter. How could the person be alive after that? On the other hand, based on my Buddha Master’s holy realization, I kept telling myself not to have doubt because it is in violation of the precepts. However, I just couldn’t remove the doubt in my mind. Now I think about this, I felt that I was really very inferior and my karmic impedance was too heavy. Being Yundun Duojibai V – Gadu, I am still a tiny speck before my Buddha Master. I am really ashamed and ashamed!

 

 

State of Nirmanakaya

 

My Buddha Master selected a good time on an auspicious day at the solemn mandala to hold the initiation of the empowerment dharma from The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation, Niwan Crown-Opening Heaven Mandala. My Buddha Master discoursed to me, “This dharma is a very important one. Very few people have the opportunity of learning this dharma. After learning the dharma from the master, true form of realization will arise quickly within two hours. You will then attain the Niwan Daoguo. You should make a good effort to practice this dharma and benefit living beings.” Thus I entered the state of receiving the very profound empowerment. My Buddha Master sat on a high platform at a far distance. However, my Buddha Master did not touch my head and only let me visualize practicing the tantric rituals. The ceremony was conducted to open the door to acquiring the correct Buddha-dharma. Two hours passed. At that time, the frontal fontanel spot at the top of my head warmed up. I had a very unusual feeling but I really did not know whether my crown opened or not.

On the seventh day of my practicing the dharma, an extremely strong force of empowerment was felt at the position of frontal fontanel on my forehead. This is the location of the soft spot on the head of a new-born baby where movement corresponding with the heart beat can be seen. It is called the Niwan Palace. Taoists call it the Heaven Gate. This huge force of empowerment poured in from the Niwan Palace with the magnitude of a tidal wave and the momentum of an avalanche. Then my body received a very strong electric shock. With a loud sound of cracking, the Niwan spot opened up. At this time, my mind was in a state of ignorance in terms of knowing where I was, either in existence or emptiness. Very quickly, this ignorance transformed into boundless light beams. I transformed out of a “me” who was meditating in a cross-legged sitting into another “me.” Then I flew up, with incredibly fast speed, into the sky. Strong pressure from wind was felt on top of my head. My ears also heard sharp and harsh sounds from the wind. At this moment, I was not in the state of ignorance. I saw clearly and unambiguously my second nirmanakaya.

At that time, all scenes I saw of mountains, rivers, lands, Sun, Moon, stars, homes, crop fields, farms, and pedestrians on streets were true existence and real in front of my eyes. I was not in a dream state. My biggest concern was staying outside for too long and risking my original body getting harmed. I thought about the story of Taoist Iron-Crutch Li. His body was destroyed by other people because of his late return. Then he could only settle into the body of a crippled and hunchbacked beggar. Although this is a legendary story of Taoists, it is true state in my current reality. Do I want to follow the path of Iron-Crutch Li? So I felt very worried and immediately started to return to the mundane world. I clearly saw that the spot of the Niwan Palace on my head was emitting light. I followed the light and re-entered my body. Since then, I experienced endless wonders that cannot be described in words. Because these are related to the very profound Buddha-dharma, I was not able to record more holy events in this book. I hope that readers can understand.

When I reported my experience and feeling from practicing this dharma to my Buddha Master, my Buddha Master transmitted a secret mantra to me. Sometime later, in recorded dharma lessons that were distributed to the public, my Buddha Master mentioned that my dharma practice had reached the preliminary stage of the state of nirmanakaya, or simple nirmanakaya. Several years later, in order to let living beings know the greatness of Buddha-dharma, on December 29, 2009, I took a magnetic resonance image (MRI) exam on my head at the Sincere Medical Imaging Center. The result showed a deep gap at the position of the Niwan Palace with a width of 1.5 cm. Also, the images captured the real situation of my spirit and consciousness rushing out of my head. The doctor conducting the examination was very surprised but was not able to explain it and attributed it to non-human cause. I was really very clear because this is where my nirmankaya came out and returned. Please see the scan films from my MRI exam.

 

Heaven Gate opening at the position of the Niwan Palace, side view

 

Heaven Gate opening at the position of the Niwan Palace, side view

 

Heaven Gate opening at the position of the Niwan Palace, front view

 

Heaven Gate opening at the position of the Niwan Palace, front view

 

Tummo Concentration

 

I have heard about the term of tummo concentration a long time ago. However, most of the descriptions on this subject are like a famous metaphor of a group of blind people touching different parts of an elephant. Each of them then gave a vivid description of what the elephant’s body was like based on where he touched. It is definitely not easy to see true manifestation of tummo. In Tibet and India, there are still many lamas who practice tummo concentration. However, when they walk out of the closed room at the end of the extended practice of three years and three months in seclusion, very few of them can actually raise the body temperature. The most that they were able to do is symbolically wear a wet blanket and walk around the temple. Anyone who attained the initial level of tummo is regarded as a holy one. This is just an indication that tantric dharmas are being lost from generation to generation.

Tummo concentration is one of the dharmas of true-form meditation and is a high-class dharma of meditation. It is a great dharma for cultivating the life power of the body, mind-wind and bright spots, and the accomplishment of a rainbow-light body. Practicing tummo can eliminate any illness or disease one has. Therefore, this dharma is the ultimate enemy of the demon of illness. Tummo concentration is a great dharma in the division of supreme yoga. The perfect accomplishment in the practice of this dharma combined with Vajra Substitute Body Meditation can lead to the accomplishment of a Bodhisattva at the twelfth stage or higher.

There are two types of practices of tummo concentration. One is Yoga Tummo from Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism. The other is the Body-Laying (Corpse-Pose) Tummo regarded as “the King of Tummo” and the highest Buddha-dharma of true-form meditation. Yoga Tummo and Body-Laying Tummo are essentially the same except for differences in the tantric mantra and body poses.

The realization power from all dharmas of tummo concentration is defined by four steps. The first step is called the Initial Warmth Step. At this step, body temperature can be raised to between 115°F and 130°F but the ability of curing illnesses is not strong yet. The second step is the Joy of Heat from Meditation Step, with the body temperature raised to between 130°F and 150°F. The heat of tummo can be released at certain locations within the body to provide a relatively strong ability for curing illnesses. However, there are five illnesses that cannot be cured by this ability. However, one will rarely become ill with the accomplishment at this step. The third step is the Step of Emptiness and Existence at High Temperature. The body temperature can be raised to between 150°F and 200°F. The heat of tummo can be distributed to any part of the body to heal illness by oneself, with the exception of two illnesses. The practitioner can collect the dark karma generated due to ignorance and burn it away with tummo. One can also move the heat of tummo outside of his body to cure illness and eliminate hindrance for other people or to subdue demons and evil spirits. The fourth step is the Magnificent Joy at Extreme Temperature. The temperature will exceed 200°F and the heat of tummo will spread to the entire body. Master Milerapa used his realization power of this step to ignite his own body to attain the sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya states.

My first time to witness the manifestation of true realization power from cultivating and practicing tummo concentration was at the holy inner tantric dharma assembly when my fellow brother Kaichu Rinpoche used his true realization power of tummo to make the pills of Daba Buqiong in front of other people (The Daba Buqiong pill is made from conducting a dharma with the Medicine Buddha as the yidam using the practice of tummo as the cause.). He once received the holy inner tantric initiation of the dharma of Xian Liang (meaning immediately measurable or “on the spot”) Great Perfection from The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation and the holy inner tantric initiation of the state practice dharma of the Body-Laying (Corpse-Pose) Tummo Concentration from The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation. He is a greatly accomplished one in the Body-Laying (Corpse-Pose) Tummo Concentration. Upon seeing his accomplishment, on the one hand, I felt happy for him. On the other hand, I also reminded myself to be more rigorous and careful, so I can avoid committing violations in the 128 evil and erroneous views at all times and always treat living beings with great compassionate bodhicitta. I hope that, when the affinity is mature, I can, like my fellow brother Kaichu Rinpoche, have the opportunity of receiving the holy inner tantric initiation of the state practice dharma from The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation.

One day, my Buddha Master instructed me to go to a place to meet a great holy virtuous one. Because this was a decision from my Buddha Master, the great holy virtuous one received me immediately (Because the great holy virtuous one does not permit me to reveal his identity, I can only address him as “the Great Holy Acharya” here). When I entered the mandala, I prostrated respectfully and then held my palms together to listen to the Great Holy Acharya’s decree and order. The Great Holy Acharya looked at me with benevolent eyes and said, “Buddha’s Disciple Gadu, I and dharma protectors have been observing you for quite a few years. Although your cultivation and conduct is not completely perfect and you still have a little violation, you have successfully attained the accomplishment of Niwan Daoguo. You can take a picture and you will see that. During the past several years, you carried out many Buddhist endeavors and accumulated a good amount of merit. I decided to conduct the initiation of the state practice dharma of the Body-Laying (Corpse-Pose) Tummo Concentration from The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation to transmit the Body-Laying (Corpse-Pose) Tummo Concentration Dharma to you. I hope that you can benefit more living beings after successfully practicing this dharma.” At that time, I couldn’t believe what I heard from my ears but it was true. It came from my countless times of incarnations to this Saha World since the many eons to save and transform living beings with my true bodhicitta of great compassion. I was able to receive this supreme profound great dharma also because of the correspondence of my three karmas of body, speech and mind to the Four Jewels of my Buddha Master, Buddhas, Dharma, and Sangha.

At the time of initiation, the Great Holy Acharya was far away from me and I was alone. I exposed my upper body and laid down on the green grass lawn. I formed the mudra with my hands and was chanting mantras and visualizing the seed figure of the Wind and Fire Wheel according to the steps of the dharma taught by the Great Holy Acharya. I concentrated my thinking on raising the temperature of tummo at the location of the tantric wheel. A short while after, the Wind and Fire Wheel started to rotate at the location of the tantric wheel. The fire of tummo began to rise. The temperature was rising very fast. I called out repeatedly, “The temperature is rising. It is scalding now. Scalding! Scalding! Scalding!” From inside to outside, the fire temperature of tummo was like that of a red-hot iron. Flame shot out from the tantric wheel. The scalding heat printed a seal of a dharma eye of the size of 1.5 cm on the skin around the tantric wheel. The Great Holy Acharya was about 10 meters away from me at that time. With a command of “Stop,” the temperature of tummo started to decrease immediately. At this moment, the dark karmas inside my body were let out by the temperature of tummo. My body instantly felt very cool and purified. I had a long-lasting feeling and lightness and easiness. The pain in my left shoulder disappeared immediately. The meridian channels within my whole body were relaxed all of a sudden. I felt that I became younger everywhere in me.

The Great Holy Acharya slowly walked closer to me. The Great Holy Acharya used dharma water to wash the spot of the tantric wheel on my body and at the same time examined the dharma eye formed by the ejection of tummo fire. The Great Holy Acharya benevolently spoke to me with a smile, “You have received the initiation and entered the true form of the Generation Stage.” Meanwhile, the Great Holy Acharya also reminded me a few things that I should pay attention to and then transmitted to me some important details for visualization in dharma practice and the secret mantra. In particular, I was instructed to follow the steps of putting concepts into practice, meditation practice, and concentration practice to practice the dharma expounded by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that includes the Vast Sea Mind Essence Dharma of the Root Mater, the Xiaman Magnificent Vast Sea Mind Essence Dharma, and the Most Magnificent Bodhi Vast Sea Mind Essence Dharma of the Dakinis. These are not hollow statements of talking about attaining Buddha-hood in the current lifetime without the actual accomplishment. They are the very precious dharma for attaining supreme enlightenment and, needless to say, can lead to accomplishment in the current lifetime.

I was listening to the discourse by the Great Holy Acharya while looking towards the sky with my eyes open. Suddenly, the events from my past experience emerged one by one before my eyes, as if I was watching a movie. Some were good and some were bad. They made me realize that the law of cause and effect never errs! From whatever causes I had planted, I harvested all corresponding consequences. My goal for coming to this Saha World is to benefit living beings and help them to attain Buddha-hood. I will treasure the remaining time in my current life to spend it well on benefiting living beings. After ending the causes and affinities of this lifetime, I am determined to come to this Saha World again to save living beings who have their affinities with me. Just as my vow of “As long as living beings are there, I will continue to perform the act of saving them.” Whenever living beings need, I will appear at their side!

Then I dressed and put on my dharma robe. I walked into the mandala and kneeled before the Great Holy Acharya with my palms together to listen respectfully to the Great Holy Acharya’s teaching. The Great Holy Acharya stood in front of me and discoursed, “Your inner mandala has been opened. Now I am going to open up your outer mandala. With that, the initiation of the Body-Laying (Corpse-Pose) Tummo Concentration Dharma on you will be very perfect. However, to avoid leaving a large dharma eye on your forehead, I will use a mild fire.” I immediately moved forward to kneel by the side of the Great Holy Acharya, with my eyes staring at the Great Holy Acharya’s palms.

When the Great Holy Acharya was chanting mantras and forming mudra, I felt as if I was kneeling by the feet of a very tall and cloud-reaching Buddha. Upon raising my head and looking up, I saw that a pair of solemn but benevolent eyes was watching me. Suddenly, the Great Holy Acharya lightly pressed right-hand middle finger at a point above my eyebrows. At first, it wasn’t hot at all. However, very quickly, a beam of flame-like intense and scalding heat was released. I responded right away, “Scalding! Scalding! Scalding!” The temperature of tummo rose very fast. This strong and scalding heat flow was led from the eyebrow wheel into the heart wheel and connected the fire seed at the tantric wheel to the entire body. However, there was nothing noticeable at the finger of the Great Holy Acharya. During this initiation of tummo, my body first endured a period of scalding heat but this was followed by a feeling of extremely cool and purified that filled up my entire body. Then, the Great Holy Acharya examined the dharma eye that became red-swollen due to receiving the tummo empowerment. It was right at the middle of my eyebrows.

The Great Holy Acharya discoursed with a smile, “The initiation of the Body-Laying (Corpse Pose) Tummo Holy Inner Tantric State Practice Dharma in The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation  includes two steps. The first step is having the vajra acharya who possesses the master’s qualification at the upper level of enlightenment perform initiation for the disciple at a distance of between 10 to 16 meters (32.8-52.5 feet) away. This is for receiving the recognition by the yidam of that dharma to plant the seed of affinity. This step is for obtaining the power of the accumulation of good fortune. Then, within 15 days after that, the vajra acharya who possesses the master’s qualification at the upper level of enlightenment will perform tummo initiation and teach the dharma directly to the disciple at a close distance. This step belongs to obtaining the power of the accumulation of wisdom. Therefore, now both your inner mandala and outer mandala from the initiation of the Body-Laying (Corpse Pose) Tummo Concentration have been completed perfectly. You can go out and inform the rinpoches and dharma masters who are caring about and waiting for you outside about the happiness and joy that will come to living beings in the future.”

With limitless gratefulness in my mind, after prostrating to the Great Holy Acharya, I exited the mandala to report to the rinpoches and dharma masters who were waiting the successful completion of my initiation of the Body-Laying (Corpse Pose) Tummo Concentration. Fellow brothers were all very happy for me. All I heard was the continuous congratulations one after the other. At this time, I felt that I was even more insignificant. My fellow brothers not only did not have any jealousy on my receiving the initiation of the supreme profound Body-Laying (Corpse Pose) Tummo Concentration, they were as happy for me as they had received the initiation of this great dharma themselves. Wasn’t such spirit a manifestation of the holy love from the “exchange between self and others bodhicitta” from the bodhicitta of great compassion? I have limitless admiration for them!

My endless gratefulness cannot repay the blessing and empowerment from the Great Holy Acharya, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and Holy dharma protectors. I must cultivate and practice even more diligently to save and transform more sentient beings. Only that can requite a small portion of the initiation I received! The first thing I need to do is to study and cultivate according to the three dharmas of Mind Essences from The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation taught by the utmost supreme holiest Tathagata, my great Buddha Master!

 

Propagating Buddha-Dharma

 

In this lifetime of mine, my actual endeavors of propagating Buddha-dharma in front of an audience in public started at the anniversary dinner party of the Rotary Club of Taipei New East. I had always been a member of the club since before being recognized as a rinpoche and was its president at a time. Many members of the club are good friends of mine. On that day, I was invited as the speaker, because most of the members were very curious. Why a businessman who was worry-free in life and had been successful in his career would, all of a sudden, give up everything in worldly matters to enter into the ranks of cultivating, propagating Buddha-dharma, and benefiting living beings? Therefore, I spoke on the topic of “From a Member of the Rotary Club to a Rinpoche” and about my experience in cultivation. After the meeting, quite a few members asked me how to cultivate and requested me to write a short article for publishing in the club’s newsletter to share with others.

Because people in such an organization have different religious beliefs and belong to various sects, I wrote for them a method of cultivation “Observe The Nature of Mind and Correct Actions” that can be adapted by any sect or any religion to build affinity with them and encourage them to get on the path of cultivation. (Please be sure to listen respectfully to the discourse by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III on “Observe Thoughts and Correct Actions” because only that is the most correct and error-free guidance to cultivation) The text of this article is provided below for readers of this book.

 

Observe The Nature of Mind and Correct Actions

By Practitioner Yundun Duojibai V, Gadu with a heart of humility

June 15, 2008

All kind virtuous ones here, I wish you all an auspicious and wish-fulfilling day!

Many kind virtuous people expressed to me, “Cultivation is hard.” However, my answer is, “It is very easy.” The fact is that it is difficult when one is deluded but it is easy to one who is enlightened.

Today, I like to give you a gift of a motto for self-cultivation, “Observe the nature of mind and correct actions.”

Observing the nature of mind and correcting your actions is the simplest, easiest, and also the best method for one to start cultivation. This method is not subject to limitations of schools, sects, or religions. It is the foundation of being a good person for everyone. It also provides the auspicious and peaceful cause to the society and will bear the eventual fruit of world peace.

Briefly, the method of observing and practice is described as follows:

1. Every day, just before going to sleep, first calm down your mind and carefully visualize and think over in your mind the period from the time you wake up in the morning to this moment of going to sleep the changes in the nature of your mind caused by the states that you saw with your eyes. The more detailed is your visualization and thinking, the better. However, you must be in a relaxed mode. Do not have attachment and do not end prematurely. The key is doing this with peaceful mind and in a quiet atmosphere.
2. Then, with a serious attitude and high moral standard, inspect and check your actions on that day that were caused by the changes in the nature of your mind. If it was good, then tell yourself to continue. If not, correct it immediately in your mind and caution yourself for future actions.
3. Do not avoid facing the actions that should be corrected due to the self-attachment in you. With such self cultivation day by day, within six months to one year, you will gradually become aware of any change in your mind nature caused by the external state right at the moment of the thought arising in your mind. Continue whatever that is good and correct in your actions that are not good. This is just a simple practice of visualization. To practice absolutely correctly, your must cultivate according to the state visualization method in The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation that is very precious. However, even if you only follow this rudimentary method, bodhicitta will naturally be enhanced in you. All members in your family will share your happiness and joy. The whole family will be in harmony and happiness and your reward of fortune will increase in this process.

 

Through my many years of cultivation, I deeply realized the importance of having correct knowledge and views. A practitioner who possesses correct knowledge and views is like one who brings the map that provides the correct directions and guidance for his journey by foot or by driving. Therefore, he can avoid making mistakes of getting on the wrong path or being lost that will cause his precious time being wasted. As I continued to spend more and more time in propagating Buddha-dharma and to have contact with more and more living beings, I gradually became aware of and understood many bad behaviors of living beings and the erroneous and evil views that most practitioners in the world possess. These many erroneous and evil views will only lead living beings to descend into the three lower realms. Then they will never get onto the holy path to end the cycle of birth and death.

To acquire the correct knowledge and views, one must start from listening to and receiving the Tathagata Dharma expounded by my Buddha Master, H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and Sakyamuni Buddha, and not listening to and receiving the so-called dharma voice that uses the name of Sakyamuni Buddha but actually insults the Buddha.

Once, I was giving a public discourse and asked my disciples to make a good effort in listening to the dharma to correct their knowledge and views, I saw that many of them did not show good responses  to that and still had incorrect understanding in their minds. Some of them thought that they can attain nirvana by simply doing good deeds. They had the various views of regarding sitting meditation as cultivating themselves, regarding studying the teaching of the sutras as cultivating themselves, regarding simply applying mudras and chanting mantras as doing dharma practice, believing that one can become liberated only by practicing a dharma and without cultivating oneself, thinking that there is no need to abide all of the precepts they have received, thinking that it is acceptable to mix heretical practices with the practices of the Buddha-dharma, regarding strange paranormal phenomena as manifestations of supernatural powers that flow from the Buddha-dharma, thinking that one can put off cultivating oneself until tomorrow, approving of impure giving in which the giver remembers and is attached to his act of giving, thinking that it is acceptable to call themselves a Buddha or Bodhisattva in front of their disciples, regarding doing a dharma practice as cultivating themselves, believing that their illness will be cured by requesting empowerment and without cultivating themselves, thinking that Buddhist pills can cure all illnesses, thinking that it is possible to perform an initiation from a place far away from where the recipient of the initiation is, regarding cutting off attachment to self as not caring for the sufferings of others, thinking that a small temple has no eminent monastics, regarding that one who succeeds to the position of head of a huge temple is definitely a person of holy virtue, regarding the one who has numerous disciples as a holy and virtuous person, thinking that it is acceptable to put off learning Buddhism until they are no longer busy with worldly matters, thinking that it is acceptable for a master to demand and take property from his disciples, thinking that only practitioners of the Zen sect can understand their mind and see their original nature, believing that one can pass on to the Pure Land only if one chants the name of Amitabha Buddha, regarding the esoteric dharma as the highest dharma and the exoteric dharma as the lowest dharma, believing in the predictions that a great global disaster will occur in a particular year, regarding those who wear the robes of a monastic or the robes of a rinpoche as holy people, believing that money must be paid in exchange for learning dharma or listening to dharma, thinking that it is acceptable to accumulate money secretly in the guise of collecting donations to build a temple, build a stupa, or conduct a dharma assembly, thinking that one who has taken refuge is definitely a Buddhist, and so on. All these are erroneous views and evil views. However, these people still think that they can attain accomplishment. Actually, they did not even think about the plain truth that since they did not have their crown opened, they still have the skull of an ordinary being. (For details, please study Public Announcement #8 from the Office of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III – H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Gives a Brief Explanation of Evil Views and Erroneous Views)

Therefore, at the occasion of my second discourse in public, I spoke on the topic of “Gadu Rinpoche’s Discourse on Why We should Respectfully Listen to the Dharma.” The text of this article is provided below for readers of this book.

 

Discourse on Why We Should Respectfully listen to the Recorded Dharma Lessons Given by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III

By Practitioner Yundun Duojibai V, Gadu with a heart of humility

February 23, 2009

Many people have the following tendency. When hearing that a so-and-so temple is going to conduct a dharma assembly or a so-and-so dharma king, rinpoche, or dharma master is going to conduct a dharma assembly of initiation and empowerment, they will always attend with a pleasant mind full of expectations, hoping to receive empowerment from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas or the dharma king, rinpoche, or dharma master. However, when they were told to go to so-and-so dharma listening organization, temple, or Buddha hall to attend the regular group sessions to listen respectfully to the supreme, profound, subtle and wonderful Buddha-dharma discoursed by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and Sakyamuni Buddha, they would decline indirectly with all kinds of excuses. In the end, they have only one reason – “no time.” Consequently, they will get the same one outcome – “descending into the lower three realm after death.”

During my career of saving living beings, much of my time was spent on solving, for my disciples, living beings’ problems such as fame-interests-prosperity-decay, fortune-happiness-gain-loss, detest-complaint-anger-hatred, plotting-slandering-disputing-harming, illness-suffering-parting-death and others. All these belong to the twenty Dharmas that are related to ordinary beings’ emotions. (For details, please listen respectfully to the recorded dharma lesson of “Cutting off the Twenty Dharmas Relating to Ordinary Feelings”) These people do not have time to listen to the dharma but do spend quite a lot of time on the above-mentioned twenty dharmas of ordinary beings’ emotions. This is truly very pitiable! Very, very few disciples of mine would, at the time of meeting me, quest for the dharma in order to attain accomplishment and liberation in the current lifetime.

As Gadu with a heart of humility, my mission of reincarnating to this world in the current lifetime is to propagate the supreme, profound, subtle and wonderful Buddha-dharma discoursed by my magnificent Master, H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and Sakyamuni Buddha. Also, I will transmit the dharma that my Buddha Master taught me and the dharma that was passed down from Sakyamuni Buddha to my disciples who have the right affinities with me, to let them get onto the correct path of cultivation. However, the simple fact is that only those who possess the qualification of dharma container are able to receive and accept the dharma water of Tathagata and acquire the empowerment from H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Cultivators, imagine that you all have an alms bowl made of bamboo strips in your mind. Those who have relatively less karmic impedance are analogous to bamboo bowls made of relatively fine and tightly knitted bamboo strips. Conversely, those who have relatively heavy karmic impedance correspond to the situation of the bowl being made with coarse bamboo strips and loosely knitted craftsmanship. Let me ask you all, can bowls made of bamboo, regardless of tightly or loosely knitted, hold and keep the water of Tathagata? The answer is, of course, no. No water can be held by these bowls. Every drop will leak out!

To turn the bamboo bowls into dharma instruments that can hold up the dharma water of Tathagata, a process of mending the holes and gaps between strips must be undergone. Only then can the bowls become true dharma apparatus. Therefore, if you can regularly and persistently listen, with a sincere and respectful mind, to the Buddha-dharma discoursed by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and Sakyamuni Buddha and can truly and cohesively apply the essence of the dharma that you listen to and understand into your daily life and cultivation, the effect is analogous to applying, day by day, layer after layer of concocted paint onto the bamboo bowl. Gradually the holes on the bowl will be all patched up. The whole bowl will then have no leaks and become a dharma alms bowl that can truly hold up the dharma water of Tathagata. Only after that, when you attend any dharma assembly of empowerment or initiation and dharma transmission by true great holy ones, can you truly acquire the empowerment and reap the benefits of entering the holy state in your dharma practice. Furthermore, the dharma expounded by the Buddha provides the foundation for practitioners to acquire the correct knowledge and views. In addition, the dharma voice of the Buddha has the utmost supreme blessing power that can keep the karmic impedance away from the practitioner. In fact, just by respectfully listening to the dharma, many people already entered into their states of realization. They opened up their wisdom and acquired supernatural abilities.

Another problem that many cultivators face is that, on the path of cultivation, the bowl that had been mended with a great effort became leaking again. What went wrong? To the absolute majority of these people, the cause is that they have violated precepts due to the suspicion they have. They may doubt the qualification of their master and be worried that their three karmas cannot correspond to that of the master; or they suspect that truthfulness of the Buddha-dharma they practice; or they may lack the confidence of benefiting from Buddha-dharma due to the concern over the sin they committed in the past. The end result is like that they used a knife and poked a few holes on the bamboo bowl. Thus, the blessing power from the master, the merit power from their dharma practice, and the siddhi power from the lineage of Buddha-dharma all leaked out completely. Under such circumstances, disciples who have good roots must reflect upon themselves, find their own faults through self-examination, and truly repent before their fundamental master or Buddhas and Bodhisattvas right away. With such deeds, they can re-patch the leaks and once again become the dharma instruments that can truly hold up the dharma water of Tathagata.

Respectfully listening to the dharma is the first step of getting onto the path of cultivation. However, it must be emphasized that the dharma that we should respectfully listen to is the Tathagata dharma expounded by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and Sakyamuni Buddha and is absolutely not the evil dharmas from evils or from strange and paranormal beings with evil views. A cultivator must establish his correct knowledge and views from respectfully listening to the dharma and apply the essence of the dharma learned from the correct knowledge and views to his daily life and cultivation. At the same time, cultivation has to start from and be in accord with the discourse of “What is Cultivation” in the treasure book of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. It would be even better if one can have the early opportunity of cultivating according to The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation. Keeping practice this way day by day, the dharma bowl in your mind will then truly become one without any leakage and can hold up the dharma water of Tathagata. Then, after receiving dharma teaching and initiation from a qualified master who possesses the correct knowledge and views as well as true realization of virtue, state and power, one should conduct according to the teaching in abiding by the precepts, practicing the Four Limitless States of Mind, the Ten Virtues, the Six Paramitas, and benefiting living beings from the bodhicitta of great compassion. In particular, one must self-examine using the 128 views. Only by practicing this way, can one truly be on the path of cultivation toward liberation.

 

Once, the wife of a friend of mine at the Rotary Club asked me a question, “Rinpoche, I am an ordinary housewife. I have absolutely no knowledge about Buddhism yet. However, I like to cultivate. How can I make sure that I can correctly enter the gate of Buddhism?” This question made me deeply aware that, in today’s world, there are many people who like to start learning Buddhism and cultivating but do not know how to get on the correct path. Therefore, on another discourse to the friends of the Rotary Club, I gave a targeted speech of “the Path to Learning Buddhism and Cultivation” to provide them guidance on how to step onto the correct path of learning Buddhism and cultivating. The text of this article is provided below for readers of this book.

 

The Path to Learning Buddhism and Cultivation

By Practitioner Yundun Duojibai V, Gadu with a heart of humility

November 5, 2008

Recently, when I was giving speeches to the friends at the Rotary Club, I was often asked a same question by a number of kind people, which is “What is a correct path of learning Buddhism and cultivation, and how can we correctly follow that path?”

In the following, I am going to use an analogy which is not exactly very appropriate but quite understandable by general public to explain the above question.

First, we must know that there are two very important acts or conducts on the path of learning Buddhism and cultivation, namely, “cultivation” and “dharma practice.”

1. The so-called “cultivation” means that we should, in our daily life and in our interaction with other people, correct our deeds that are not good so as to conform to the precepts and doctrine transmitted from the Buddha’s teaching. The goal is to make us become a humble practitioner who has the bodhicitta of great compassion, always considers the interests and benefits of others, possesses the correct knowledge and views, follows the guidance of the 128 views expounded by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and is liked and praised by the general public. (Please respectfully read the Dharma of Cultivation discoursed in the treasure book of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III)
2. The so-called “dharma practice” means relying on the method that the Buddha left to us and was transmitted to you by the great kind and knowledgeable advisor to deeply enter into the practice of the dharma so as to increase your reward of fortune, acquire great wisdom, end the cycle of birth and death, be able to casually control your journey in the human world, and enjoy your presence in the three dharma spheres.
3. Comparing “cultivation” and “dharma practice” in term of the relative allocation of effort, the former, “cultivation,” should have a percentage of about 85-90%. The latter, “dharma practice,” although it takes only a percentage of only about 10-15%, is also indispensible. One must proceed on both these two aspects concurrently and should not emphasize only either one based on your own preference. The important person who connects your “cultivation” and “dharma practice” together is the great kind and knowledgeable advisor, your master. Therefore, on the path of learning Buddhism and cultivation, everyone must have a master who provides reliance and guidance.
4. In Buddhism, the concept of master represents the general form of the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha). That is to say, the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha collectively form one entity through the master. Therefore, your master represents the Buddha Jewel, Dharma Jewel, and Sangha Jewel to transmit the dharma to you and guide you in cultivation. Thus, you need to rely upon and follow a great good knowledgeable one who possesses the bodhicitta of great compassion, always thinks about benefiting living beings, and has the correct knowledge and views as well as realization of virtue, state, and power as your own master to teach you the dharma and guide you in your cultivation.

Next, I will make an analogy in term of “television.”

1. “Cultivation” is like the process of assembling a television set by yourself. If your cultivation is always conducted according to the precepts and doctrine taught by the Buddha that include Belief-Vow-Practice, Commandment-Concentration-Wisdom, the Five Precepts, the Ten Virtues, the Four Limitless States of Mind, the Six Paramitas, the Three Comprehensive Precepts, and so on and your conduct is based on the bodhicitta of great compassion, your television set is guaranteed to be of good quality. Otherwise, its quality will not be good or the television set may have defects in it.
2. “Dharma practice” is similar to the method of operating the television set and using the channels of TV stations. Once your master taught you the method of operating the television set and provided you with the information about the channels of TV stations, you should remember well and practice diligently.
3. The Buddha lands of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are analogous to various different TV stations that are always in operation, 365 days a year and 24 hours a day, without any time off. They all broadcast to all living beings with great benevolence and equanimity.
4. Even with the TV stations, your television set as well as the knowledge about TV channels and the method of operating the television set, you are still not able to view the programs from the TV stations. You still need the empowerment by your master using his or her realization of virtue, state and power and the siddhi power from the authentic lineage of Buddhism as the electric power. Only with the connection of electricity, can your TV set be utilized to display video images.
5. If your TV set is of good quality (your cultivation is perfect) and you can also operate it correctly and correctly select the TV channels as taught by your master (analogy of cultivating according to the teaching and practicing the dharma with the three karmas of body, speech, and mind in correspondence to the master’s teaching), once the set is turned on, the image of Buddha land displayed on the TV screen is certain to be perfect and free of defects. If not, there may be various kinds of problems from the TV screen such as having sound but no image, or having image only but no sound, or having fuzzy and unclear images with snow-like spots on the screen. These phenomena can be due to any of the faults of a defective TV set, inappropriate ways of operating, or incorrect channel selection (indicating that you did not act according to the teaching in your cultivation or dharma practice or that you made mistakes in the correspondence of the three karmas). At this time, you should not blame your master or the TV station. Instead, you should thoroughly repent yourself before your master and Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You should modestly examine yourself and uncover your faults and shortcomings in views, in cultivation, or in dharma practice. Are you acting according to the teaching? Do you still have your three karmas in correspondence with your master? Did you commit various sins violating the law of cause and effect due to your ignorance and karmic impedance? Under such circumstance, you should immediately reflect upon yourself and correct it right away. If you have delusions or misunderstanding in your views, cultivation and dharma practice that you cannot resolve by yourself, you should immediately ask for help from your master to expel the delusion and eliminate the impedance to prevent the consequence of stepping onto the wrong path.

Actually, the path of learning Buddhism and cultivation is quite simple and straightforward. By practicing honestly according to what I described above, anyone will receive blessing and empowerment from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as well as dharma protectors and the benefits of good health, family harmony, success in all one does, and ending the cycle of birth and death are absolutely guaranteed.

Finally, I like to mention that my above discourse was made based on the attitude of honesty and being responsible for the law of cause and effect. At the same time, here is an advice from me to all kind and virtuous ones here:

“Do no deed that is evil; do all that is good.”

 

Once I was invited to give a speech at another Rotary Club. The president of that club was a Catholic follower and has quite a bit of prejudice toward Buddhism. At the beginning of my speech, I mentioned, “Although Catholicism is regarded as another external religion by Buddhists, its doctrine of guiding people to do kind deeds is very good. Among Catholics, there are many good cultivators whom we admire very much. Their benevolence and acts of great love are what we should learn from. Within the Catholic religion, there are also Bodhisattvas who manifested as Catholics for the affinities of saving and transforming different kinds of people. Therefore, we should have mutual respect and not attack each other.” Upon listening to this, he laughed heartedly and kept nodding. In the end, he listened attentively to my entire discourse of 45 minutes.

After my discourse, a friend of mine at the Rotary Club raised a question, “I have been cultivating and learning Buddhism for many years in the exoteric sect. My master once taught us in our meditation practice that the esoteric sect does not belong to orthodox Buddhism. Only those people who like to eat meat will become believers of esoteric Buddhism. I did not quite agree with him at that time. I knew from your conduct when you were at the Rotary Club that rinpoche you are a devoted Buddhist. Your personality and character are also respectable. That is why I dare to raise this question now. I like to hear your opinion and get guidance from you. What is the difference between the exoteric sect and the esoteric sect? Do both belong to Buddhism?”

Upon hearing this question from this friend of mine in the old days, I was very thankful for his benevolence. He is truly a good Buddhist disciple. Because he knew me and because he wanted to defend me and all of Buddhism, he raised this question that many Buddhist disciples are confused about.

First I gave a discourse on the issue of eating meat. In esoteric Buddhism, a monastic bhiksus or bhiksunis is called a lama. Once being ordained to become monastic practitioners and received the Great Precepts of the Three Altars, they must abide by the precepts that were handed down from Sakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, monastic lamas must be vegetarian and are not allowed to eat meat. Only those of them who break the precepts will ever eat meat. Among rinpoches, there are two kinds, monastic rinpoches and layperson rinpoches. For example, dharma kings in the Sakya Sect of esoteric Buddhism and the well-known H.H. Dharma King Mindrolling Trichen are layperson rinpoches. Layperson rinpoches are permitted to eat meat. However, they must conduct the dharma to elevate the souls of the deceased bodies to higher realms. On the other hand, monastic rinpoches are not allowed to eat meat. If they do, the act is a violation of the precepts.

Next, the question of “What is exoteric Buddhism, what is esoteric Buddhism, and what is the difference between exoteric Buddhism and esoteric Buddhism?” was asked by many kind virtuous people when I was giving speeches at many Rotary Clubs. I will give a brief explanation below.

Based on my own comprehension and realization, a perfect and complete Buddha-yana (vehicle of Buddhism) consists of exoteric Buddhism and the practice of tantric rituals (rituals are the predefined formal procedures of dharma practice). We can regard exoteric Buddhism as half of the system of Buddha-dharma. Only esoteric Buddhism is a complete system of Buddha-dharma. Why can we say so? The so-called esoteric Buddhism that we know has six major divisions, combining the exoteric Buddhism and the practice of tantric rituals. Tantric rituals include five major categories of mantra, mudra, visualization, common and non-common mandala, and outer and inner tantric initiations. Therefore, a true practitioner of esoteric Buddhism must first start from learning the sutras and classics of exoteric Buddhism that includes Hinayana and Mahayana. Then he will  study the classic works of Tantrayana, precepts, and quite a number of commentaries, such as the Hetu-Vidya Treatise, the Mulamadhyamakakarika Treatise, the Treatise of Prajna, the Abhidharmakosa Treatise, the Treatise on Precepts and Discipline, the Treatise on Wisdom and Truth, the Treatise on Supreme Practice, the Treatise on Liberation by Mahayana Practice, and so on. Meanwhile, he should also complete the Four Preliminary Practices. After fulfilling all these requirements, he must pass a rigorous exam at an open debate contest for being admitted into the academy of tantrayana to have the opportunity of receiving initiation of profound Buddha-dharma and learning and practicing the rituals. The cultivation of the dharma starts from the generation stage and, after the completion stage, eventually achieves the  stage of unattached application.

Therefore, the supreme and profound tantrayana should not exclude the exoteric school. On the other hand, cultivating only the practices from the exoteric school will not lead to the realization of the two bodies of sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. That requires truly and deeply entering into the cultivation and practice of the supreme and secret teaching of tantrayana. One must combine the cultivation and practice from exoteric teaching and tantric rituals to realize the three bodies of dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya and attain great accomplishment in the current lifetime.

Exoteric sect and esoteric sect are both Buddhism. Unfortunately, within the two sects, some people who do not understand the theory and essence of the teaching were attacking each other. That is sinful. Buddhist disciples who received their precepts especially should not do that. Such acts must be repented!

My Buddha Master, H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III

 

When I was respectfully on my knees and holding my palms together in front of my kind Buddha Master’s dharma seat for the first time, as soon as I raised my eyebrows to have my eyesight in a light contact with the loving, compassionate, and benevolent eyes of my Buddha Master, I immediately had the belief that my Master is a Buddha! However, my Buddha Master never stated to anyone what holy being he was in past lifetimes. Conversely, he always claimed to be a servant of everyone.

During the past ten years, I closely attended by the side of my Buddha Master and also carried out quite a number of Buddhist deeds following my Buddha Master. The holy states and holy realizations manifested by my Buddha Master such as proficient in both exoteric and esoteric Buddhism, perfect and deep mastery of the Five Vidyas, and great wisdom unrivaled by any human or holy beings are unprecedented in the history of both exoteric and esoteric Buddhism.

My firm belief of “My master is a Buddha” that I had in my mind for years was finally confirmed from the treasure book of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III that was presented to the Congress of the United States by the International Buddhism Shanga Association on April 3, 2008. The identity of my Buddha Master, known by people in the world as Master Wan Ko Yee, was revealed through either meditation or practice of the dharma in a profound state of supernatural vision by the first-class great holy virtuous ones, who are incarnations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They announced the background of H.H. Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu, who was long ago recognized by H.H. Great Dharma King Zunsheng (the manifestation of Mahavairocana Buddha) as Buddha Vajradhara. Through strict practice of the dharma and meditation these holy monastics deeply entered the dharma realm and supernaturally saw the true source. The result was they learned that this being of great virtue and holiness is the second incarnation of Vimalakirti and the third incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha. They wrote down their certificates of recognition according to the rules of Buddhism in which they recognized that H.H. Master Wan Ko Yee is H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III — the highest ancient Buddha in exoteric, esoteric, Mahayana, Hinayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism; the master of the Five Buddhas in the five directions; and the master of the great mahasattva Vajrasattva. That is, they recognized that H.H. Master Wan Ko Yee is the Holiest Tathagata Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu, the current greatest leader of Buddhism in the entire dharma realm!

Those eminent monks and dharma kings also wrote words praising H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III as being the highest and greatest holy being and the only one in the history of Buddhism who has truly exhibited before living beings item after item of accomplishments in the Five Vidyas.

From that, I realized the truth behind what I experienced quite a few years ago when a huge and gigantic material, in less than two hours of time, became a piece of extremely finely carved and crafted miraculously wondrous holy Yun sculpture artwork. Such holy realization was just a manifestation of the craftsmanship vidya of the Five Vidyas by my magnificent Buddha Master, due to the affinity of living beings.

My Grand Master, H.H. Great Dharma King Zunsheng, stated in a formal pronouncement about my great and kind Buddha Master that the realization of any eminent monastic or person of great virtue in the world today cannot rival the realization of Holiest Tathagata Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu. H.H. Great Dharma King Zunsheng also made the following vow of truth: “If any person or holy being is able to duplicate the mysterious sculpted treasures created by H.H. Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu, then this formal pronouncement of Great Dharma King Zunsheng has deceived the public.” (The mysterious sculpted treasures are “Enchanting Colors of Utmost Mystery,” “Mysterious Boulder with Mist,” and certain other Yun sculptures with specific names.)

According to the system and rules of Buddhism in this world, there are only two beings of great holiness whose expositions of the dharma can be categorized as sutras. One of them is Sakyamuni Buddha. The other is the holy and venerable Vimalakirti. Besides those two, all other expositions of the dharma can only be called commentary rather than sutras. This is true no matter how great the Bodhisattva who has expounded the dharma is.

Some people say that Hui Neng (the sixth patriarch master of the Zen School) gave the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. Actually, the word sutra was used due to exaggerated praise given to Hui Neng by people of the world who did not understand the system and rules of Buddhism. The rank of the sixth patriarch was even lower than that of many Bodhisattvas. For example, Maitreya Bodhisattva is the next Buddha, who will conduct the Dragon Flower Assembly. The position of Maitreya Bodhisattva is very much higher than that of Hui Neng. However, expositions of the dharma given by Maitreya Bodhisattva cannot be called sutras. They can only be accepted as commentary. An example of this is the Yogācāra-bhūmi-śāstra. (Discourse on the Stages of Concentration Practice)

The holy and venerable Vimalakirti descended into this world during the time of Sakyamuni Buddha. He is the only ancient Buddha who transformed into a layman to expound the dharma. Sakyamuni Buddha personally taught the four types of disciples. Among them were the 500 monks who were difficult to teach and who did not want to arouse Mahayana bodhicitta. A skillful means was used to teach all of the monastics and 8,000 Bodhisattvas. After the ancient Buddha Dorje Chang expounded dharma in Abhirati (World of Wonderful Joy), the Buddha responded to karmic conditions by transforming into the holy and venerable Vimalakirti to help the Buddha teach the sangha, Bodhisattvas, and other disciples. The goal was to protect and uphold the Buddha-dharma taught by Sakyamuni Buddha. The level of realization attained by the holy and venerable Vimalakirti was the same as that attained by Sakyamuni Buddha. However, He did not want to assume the status of another leader of the religion in the human realm, thereby causing sectarianism and adding to the self-centeredness of practitioners. Considering that Sakyamuni Buddha became a Buddha in this earthly World, the holy and venerable Vimalakirti acknowledged Sakyamuni as Buddha and chose to assist Sakyamuni Buddha by manifesting as a Bodhisattva.

Thus, the holy and venerable Vimalakirti acted in the same way that the ancient Buddha Zheng Fa Ming (True Dharma Brightness) Tathagata acted when the Buddha transformed into Kuan Shi Yin Bodhisattva and also acted in the same way as Manjushri Bodhisattva, the Master of seven Buddhas, did to play the role of a Bodhisattva to support Sakyamuni Buddha. All of this was done to benefit living beings. If two Buddhas of the same rank appeared at the same time, it would cause worldly divisions. It would hinder the development of Buddha-dharma and the saving of living beings. Actually, Buddhas do not care who emerges as the leader of Buddhism. The Buddhas appear in whatever form and manner that best benefit living beings. Everything is done for the benefit of living beings based upon bodhicitta.

Therefore, people in general have no way of discovering that the realization and enlightenment of the holy and venerable Vimalakirti were that high and that He was the incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha, the foremost ancient Buddha who existed before Sakyamuni Buddha. However, the dharma discourses of the holy and venerable Vimalakirti are sutras, just as the dharma discourses of the Buddha, not commentaries. In the system of Buddhism, one such discourse is called Vilmalakirti-nirdesa Sutra (The Sutra of Vimalakirti). That sutra came into being during the same time period Sakyamuni Buddha was giving sutras. It is a very important Buddhist sutra. The Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra has been studied and followed in both Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism that was mostly propagated in Southern Asia.

When H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III was born, the beating of drums suddenly sounded in the sky, and beautiful, heavenly music could be heard. Three rainbows approximately forty to fifty meters (131-164 feet) apart appeared simultaneously in the sky. The middle one was primarily blue, the right one primarily red, and the left one primarily white. At birth, the entire body of His Holiness was dark blue. No cries from His Holiness could be heard. Rather, His Holiness opened his mouth and very clearly stated, “I have entered this world. I am completely proficient in exoteric and esoteric Buddhism and will wondrously manifest the Five Vidyas. Compare and you will know.” After speaking such words, His Holiness remained silent and appeared just like an ordinary child. The parents of His Holiness thought that they had given birth to a mysterious and extraordinary human being but did not tell anyone about this. His Holiness did not speak again until He was three years old.

When His Holiness was three years old, H.H. Mahavairocana Dharma King Zunsheng guided His Holiness in learning the Tripitaka. At that time, His Holiness was taught to recite the heart mantra of Dorje Chang Buddha seven times. This little child suddenly laughed heartily and immediately manifested the Three Bodies and Four Wisdoms. H.H. Great Dharma King Zunsheng at once tested His Holiness’s knowledge of the Tripitaka and the esoteric scriptures. The Dharma Prince child explained such writings with great facility. There was nothing in them that His Holiness did not understand. His Holiness had realized all of the doctrines and principles of such teachings.

H.H. Mahavairocana Dharma King Zunsheng then gave the following formal pronouncement: “Dorje Chang Buddha has come to this world a third time. The holy and venerable Vimalakirti has descended from the skies a second time. He completely understands the scriptures on the dharma. His Four Wisdoms are wonderfully perfect. He is an ancient Buddha upon whom living beings can rely. No master is qualified to teach Him. His mysterious sculpted treasures will be spectacular and unique in the world. He will be able to take mist that will stay inside His sculptures. He will manifest His realization and consummate skills. No holy person in the world will be able to duplicate such works. If anyone will be able to duplicate such works without differing from the original at all, my words have deceived the world. Vimalakirti Wan Ko is Buddha Vajradhara. He will cause the Buddhas to bestow nectar that many will see descend from the sky. He is of utmost benefit to sentient beings. He has the compassion and wisdom of an ancient Buddha. I hereby reveal these words to prove the veracity of my formal pronouncement.” H.H. Mahavairocana Dharma King Zunsheng also gave His Holiness the dharma name Yangwo Yizhi Dharma Prince, which means Dharma Prince supreme leader of Buddhism with the highest wisdom.

H.H. Mahavairocana Zunsheng then said, “During the Dharma-Ending Age in the earthly world, there will be many evil teachers and demons who will claim to be genuine holy persons. In order to distinguish the genuine from the false, I now make a strict formal pronouncement that will serve as the testing standard. The pronouncement is as follows: There will not be a fourth incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha in this earthly realm within the next 5,000 years. The third Dorje Chang Buddha will be the only such holy being, and there will not be an incarnation of another Dorje Chang Buddha in this earthly realm for 5,000 years. Based on causes and conditions that accord with the dharma, I now lay out tests to determine whether a person is that true Buddha if he claims to be the true incarnation of that Buddha. He must successfully invoke the Buddhas to bestow nectar. He must be able to perform the Golden Vase Selection of Karmic Affinity and predict the results of that ceremony beforehand. He must be able to eliminate karmic obstructions in a clearly visible manner. He must be able to replicate wondrous multicolored sculptures. He must be able to take mist, place it inside a hollowed out sculpted boulder, and have the mist stay there. If a person is able to do all five of these things without exception, then he is the true fourth Dorje Chang Buddha. No matter how great a holy terton may be, no matter if a person leaves concave imprints on rocks with his hands or feet, no matter how vast a person’s manifold supernatural powers may be, if he cannot do these five holy things, then he certainly is not the true incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha. An ancient Buddha who descends to this earthly realm will have no difficulty meeting these five tests. I leave these five observable tests to guard against those in the future who make false claims.”

The Dharma Prince was acting as the holy and venerable Vimalakirti did when Vimalakirti received different teachings and knowledge, took on the appearance of an ordinary person, and learned things tirelessly. No one knows why the Dharma Prince did so. At the age of sixteen, the Dharma Prince wrote a work on the dharma called A Monk Expounds the Absolute Truth to a Layperson. After that writing was buried, great master Hui Yong unearthed it. Renqing Luozhu and Suolang Danbu respectfully offered that writing to H.H. Mahavairocana Zunsheng Yeshe Norbu to evaluate. H.H. Zunsheng Yeshe Norbu personally promulgated that dharma called A Monk Expounds the Absolute Truth to a Layperson in front of the four types of Buddhist disciples. After He finished promulgating that dharma, He personally led the four types of Buddhist disciples in kneeling down and facing that writing on the dharma. He then made the following formal pronouncement: “An ancient Buddha has arrived in the east.” He recognized that the Dharma Prince was H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, conferred upon His Holiness the title Yangwo Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu, and said that His Holiness is the Holiest Tathagata. He also called that dharma A Monk Expounds the Absolute Truth to a Layperson Sutra.

There are certain time periods relating to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s propagating the dharma and benefiting living beings. Before the age of eleven was the period during which His Holiness was engaged in the Tripitaka of exoteric Buddhism. From the age of eleven to fifteen was the period during which His Holiness was engaged in the esoteric dharma of the Kagyu school. During that time, he was called Dusum Khenpa Lion’s Roar Dharma Prince. After the age of fifteen was the period during which His Holiness was engaged in the esoteric teachings of the Geluk school. His Holiness was at that time called the reincarnation of Master Tsongkhapa. That was also the time period during which His Holiness flawlessly propagated the tantric scriptures of the Sakya, Nyingma, and all of the other schools. At this time, His Holiness was called the embodiment of the body, speech, and mind of Guru Padmasambhava.

Because my Buddha Master is an ancient Buddha who has come to this world again, His Holiness upholds the principles of “making no distinction between exoteric and esoteric Buddhism or among all of the sects and schools; teaching living beings according to their particular circumstances; and pervasively propagating the teachings of the Buddhas to all.” Thus, His Holiness is the Buddha Vajradhara Great Dharma King of the “Buddha Sect” who pervasively saves all living beings. My Buddha Master has repeatedly admonished everyone with the following counsel: “There is no differentiation among the various schools and sects in my mind. There is only Buddhism. However, for a dharma king, rinpoche, or acharya of any school or sect,  as long as he or she does not commit violations in the 128 evil and erroneous views, abides by the teachings of the Buddha, attains liberation, and then saves other living beings based on their particular karmic conditions, he or she is worthy of praise.” Of course, The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation  is the greatest dharma among supreme great dharmas for cultivators to receive and practice. That is why my Buddha Master is the only one in this world possessing the realization of opening up the Niwan Daoguo for all kinds people to enable them to attain heavenly and holy states.

 

[ Please respectfully read in detail the treasure book of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III to acquire great wisdom, accomplishment and liberation. If you have the affinity to receive and practice the dharma of The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation, you will be certain to get great wisdom and attain great accomplishment and liberation. ]

 

 

Painting and Photographic Art Works of the Craftsmanship Vidya by Gadu

 

Namo Amitabha – Painted Respectfully by Buddha’s Disciple Gadu

A Painting Respectfully Depicted by Buddha’s Disciple Gadu

Ultimate Beautiful Twin Lotuses (蓮開雙絕)

A slice of Red in the Midst of All Greens (萬綠叢中一縷紅)

Messenger of Spring – A Purple Lotus (紫蓮報春)

Proudly Stand Out in the Lake (獨傲江湖)

Mind-Catching State of Art (藝境奪魂)

Waving Flowers above the Stirred Shadows (亂影狂花)

Red Lotus Sitting on a Leaf (殘葉紅蓮)

Smiling Wave from Reflecting Light (光波一笑)

Shadow (影子)

Playing with Water in a Lotus Pond (蓮塘戲水)

A Purple Lotus Surrounded by Beautiful Colors (彩韻紫蓮)

Lone Beauty in the Dark Night (黑夜獨秀)

A Yellow Lotus Emerging from Water (黃蓮出水)

Exquisite Lotus Pond Reflecting the Blue Sky (藍天映蓮韻)

Scene of Lotus Pond in a Cool Summer (荷池清夏)

Facing the Sunlight (迎向光明)

Dancing in Cool and Calm Posture (清逸飄姿)

Autumn Scene at a Lotus Pond (荷塘秋意)

Emerging from Mud without Being Contaminated (出污泥而不染)

A Fragrant Flower with Green and Red Leaves (綠紅雙葉一花香)

Exquisite and Pure (雅純蒼古)

An Enchanting Intertwine of Red and White (紅白交錯)

Fairy Autumn Flowers (秋花之神)